OEWITT  &  SNELLINGI 

eOOKSELLERS 

Twri  OTORPQ    1609  TELEGRAPH  AYE, 
IWU  blOKtb   62Q    FOURTEEHTH   sr. 

OAKLAND,  GAL. 


,  « 


PERLYCROSS 


H 


BY 

R.  D.  BLACKMORE 

AUTHOR  OF 
"LORNA  DOONE"  "  SPRINGHAVEN  "  ETC. 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 
1894 


Copyright,  1894,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 


All  rights  reserved. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.    THE    LAP   OF   PEACE 1 

II.    FAIRY   FAITH 7 

III.  THE   LYCH-GATE '.  14 

IV.  NICIE 22 

V.    A   FAIR   BARGAIN 31 

VI.  DOCTORS  THREE 40 

VII.  R.  I.  P 51 

VIII.  THE  POTATO-FIKLD -  ...  61 

IX.  THE  NARROW  PATH 71 

X.  IN  CHARGE 78 

XI.  AT  THE  CHARGE 86 

XII.  A  FOOL'S  ERRAND 94 

XIII.  THE    LAW    OF   THE    LAND 108 

XIV.  REASONING   WITHOUT   REASON 116 

XV.    FRIENDS    AND   FOES 126 

XVI.    LITTLE   BILLY 137 

XVII.    CAMELLIAS    ' 148 

XVIII.    CONCUSSION 158 

XIX.    PERCUSSION 170 

XX.    DISCUSSION 182 

XXI.    BLACKMARSH 194 

XXII.    FIRE-SHIP   AND   GALLEON 207 

XXIII.  A   MAGIC    LETTER 222 

XXIV.  A    WAGER 236 

XXV.    A   SERMON    IN   STONE 253 

XXVI.    THE   OLD   MILL 266 

XXVII.    PANIC 278 

XXVIII.    VAGABONDS 292 

XXIX.    TWO    PUZZLES 307 


414578 


IV  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XXX.  FRANKLY    SPEAKING 317 

XXXI.  A   GREAT   PRIZE 328 

XXXII.  PLEADINGS 339 

XXXIII.  THE   SCHOOL-MASTER   ABROAD 350 

XXXIV.  LOYALTY 360 

XXXV.  A   WRESTLING   BOUT 371 

XXXVI.  A   FIGHTING   BOUT 383 

XXXVII.  GENTLE  AS    A    LAMB 395 

XXXVIII.  AN   INLAND   RUN 406 

XXXIX.  NEEDFUL   RETURNS    417 

XL.  HOME   AND   FOREIGN 430 

XLI.  THE   PRIDE   OF  LIFE 441 

XLII.  HIS   LAST   BIVOUAC .  452 

XLIII.  TWO   FINE   LESSONS " 462 

XLIV.  AND   ONE   STILL    FINER  .                                                                             ,  473 


PERLYCKOSS 


CHAPTER    I 
THE    LAP    OF    PEACE 


IN  the  year  1835,  the  Rev.  Philip  Penniloe  was  Curate- 
in-charge  of  Perly  cross,  a  village  in  a  valley  of  the  Black- 
down  Range.  It  was  ti*ue  that  the  rector,  the  Rev.  John 
Chevithorne,  M.A.,  came  twice  every  year  to  attend  to  his 
tithes  ;  but  otherwise  he  never  thought  of  interfering,  and 
would  rather  keep  his  distance  from  spiritual  things.  Mr. 
Penniloe  had  been  his  college  tutor,  and  still  was  his  guide 
upon  any  points  of  duty  less  cardinal  than  discipline  of 
dogs  and  horses. 

The  title  of  "  Curate-in-charge  "  as  yet  was  not  invented 
generally  ;  but  far  more  curates  held  that  position  than 
hold  it  in  these  stricter  times.  And  the  shifting  of  curates 
from  parish  to  parish  was  not  so  frequent  as  it  is  now, 
theological  views  having  less  range  and  rage,  and  curates 
less  divinity.  Moreover,  it  cost  much  more  to  move. 

But  the  Curate  of  Perlycross  was  not  of  a  lax  or  careless 
nature.  He  would  do  what  his  conscience  required,  at  the 
cost  of  his  last  penny  ;  and  he  thought  and  acted  as  if  this 
world  were  only  the  way  to  a  better  one.  In  this  respect 
he  differed  widely  from  all  the  people  of  his  parish,  as  well 
as  from  most  of  his  clerical  brethren.  And  it  is  no  little 
thing  to  say  of  him  that  he  was  beloved  in  spite  of  his 
piety. 

Especially  was  he  loved  and  valued  by  a  man  who  had 
known  him  from  early  days,  and  was  now  the  squire  and 


2>'.: 

chief  land-owner  in  the  parish  of  Perlycross.  Sir  Thomas 
Waldron,  of  Walderscourt,  had  battled  as  bravely  with  the 
sword  of  steel  as  the  churchman  had  with  the  spiritual  weap- 
on, receiving  damages  more  abiding  than  the  latter  can 
inflict.  Although  by  no  means  invalided,  perhaps  he  had 
been  pleased  at  first  to  fall  into  the  easy  lap  of  peace. 
After  eight  years  of  constant  hardship,  frequent  wounds, 
and  famishing,  he  had  struck  his  last  blow  at  Waterloo, 
and  then  settled  down  in  the  English  home,  with  its  com- 
forting cares  and  mild  delights. 

Now,  in  his  fiftieth  year,  he  seemed  more  likely  to  stand 
on  the  battlements  of  life  than  many  a  lad  of  twenty. 
Straight  and  tall,  robust  and  ruddy,  clear  of  skin,  and 
sound  of  foot ;  he  was  even  cited  by  the  doctors  of  the 
time  as  a  proof  of  the  benefit  that  flows  from  bleeding 
freely.  Few  men  living  had  shed  more  blood  (from  their 
own  veins  at  any  rate)  for  the  good  of  their  native  land, 
and  none  had  made  less  fuss  about  it ;  so  that  his 
country,  with  any  sense  of  gratitude,  must  now  put  sub- 
stance into  him.  Yet  he  was  by  no  means  over-fat ;  sim- 
ply in  good  case  and  form.  In  a  word,  you  might  search 
the  whole  country,  and  fine  no  finer  specimen  of  a  man, 
and  a  gentleman,  too,  than  Colonel  Sir  Thomas  Waldron. 

All  this  Mr.  Penniloe  knew  well ;  and  having  been  a 
small  boy  when  the  colonel  was  a  big  one,  at  the  best 
school  in  the  west  of  England,  he  owed  him  many  a  good 
turn  for  the  times  when  the  body  rules  the  roost,  and 
the  mind  is  a  little  chick  that  can't  say,  "  cockadoodle." 
In  those  fine  days  education  was  a  truly  rational  process, 
creating  a  void  in  the  juvenile  system  by  hunger,  and  fill- 
ing it  up  with  thumps.  Scientific  research  has  now  satis- 
fied itself  that  the  mind  and  the  body  are  the  self-same 
thing ;  but  this  was  not  understood  as  yet,  and  the  one 
ministered  to  the  other.  For  example,  the  big  Tom  Wal- 
dron supplied  the  little  Phil  Penniloe  with  dumps  and- 
penny-puddings,  and  with  fists  ever  ready  for  his  de- 
fence ;  while  the  quicker  mind  sat  upon  the  broad  arch  of 
chest  sprawling  along  the  old  oak  bench,  and  construed 
the  lessons  for  it,  or  supplied  the  sad  hexameter.  When 
such  a  pair  meet  again  in  later  life,  sweet  memories  arise 
and  fine  good-will. 


THE    LAP    OF   PEACE  3 

This  veteran  friendship  even  now  was  enduring  a  test 
too  severe,  in  general,  for  even  the  most  sterling  affection. 
Bat  a  conscientious  man  must  strive,  when  bound  by 
holy  orders,  to  make  every  member  of  his  parish  dis- 
charge his  duty  to  the  best  advantage.  And  if  there  be  a 
duty  which  our  beloved  Church  —  even  in  her  snoring 
period  —  has  endeavored  to  impress,  the  candid  layman 
must  confess  that  it  is  the  duty  of  alms-giving.  Here 
Mr.  Penniloe  was  strong — far  in  advance  of  the  times  he 
lived  in,  though  still  behind  those  we  have  the  privilege 
to  pay  for.  For  as  yet  it  was  the  faith  of  the  general 
parishioner  that  he  had  a  strong  parochial  right  to  come 
to  church  for  nothing;  and  if  he  chose  to  exercise  it, 
thereby  added  largely  to  the  welfare  of  the  parson,  and 
earned  a  handsome  reference.  And  as  yet  he  could 
scarcely  reconcile  it  with  his  abstract  views  of  religion 
to  find  a  plate  poked  into  his  waistcoat -pocket,  not  for 
increase,  but  depletion  thereof. 

Acknowledging  the  soundness  of  these  views,  we  may 
well  infer  that  Perlycross  was  a  parish  in  which  a  well- 
ordered  parson  could  do  anything  reasonable.  More  than 
one  substantial  farmer  was  good  enough  to  be  pleased  at 
first,  and  try  to  make  his  wife  take  it  so,  at  these  oppor- 
tunities of  ,grace.  What  that  expression  meant  was  more 
than  he  could  for  the  life  of  him  make  out;  but  he  al- 
ways connected  it  with  something  black,  and  people  who 
stretched  out  their  hands  under  cocoanuts  bigger  than  their 
heads,  while  "  come  over  and  help  us  "  issued  from  their 
mouths.  If  a  shilling  was  any  good  to  them,  bless  their 
woolly  heads,  it  only  co&t  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  wool ! 

Happy  farmer,  able  still  to  find  a  shilling  in  his  Sunday 
small-clothes,  and  think  of  the  guineas  in  a  nest  beneath 
the  thatch !  For  wheat  was  golden  still  in  England,  and 
the  good  ox  owned  his  silver  side.  The  fair  outlook  over 
hill  and  valley,  rustling  field  and  quiet  meadow,  was  not 
yet  a  forlorn  view,  a  sight  that  is  cut  short  in  sighs,  a 
prospect  narrowing  into  a  lane  that  plods  downhill  to 
workhouse.  For  as  yet  it  was  no  mockery  to  cast  the  fat 
grain  among  the  clods,  or  trickle  it  into  the  glistening  drill, 
to  clear  the  sleek  blade  from  the  noisome  weed,  to  watch 
the  soft  waves  of  silky  tassels  dimple  and  darken  to  the 


4  PEELYCEOSS 

breeze  of  June,  and  then  the  lush  heads  with  their  own 
weight  bowing  to  the  stillness  of  the  August  sun,  thrilling 
the  eyes  with  innumerable  throng,  glowing  with  impen- 
etrable depth  of  gold.  Alas,  that  this  beauty  should  be 
of  the  past,  and  ground  into  gritty  foreign  flour ! 

But  in  the  current  year  of  grace  these  good  sons  of  our 
native  land  had  no  dream  of  the  treason  which  should 
sell  our  homes  and  landscapes  to  the  sneering  foreigner. 
Their  trouble,  though  heavy,  was  not  of  their  own  mad- 
ness, but  inflicted  from  without ;  and  therefore  could  be 
met  and  cured  by  men  of  strong  purpose  and  generous 
act. 

That  grand  old  church  of  Perlycross  (standing  forth  in 
gray  power  of  life  as  against  the  black  ruins  of  the  Abbey) 
had  suddenly  been  found  wanting — wanting  foundation, 
and  broad  buttress,  solid  wall,  and  sound-timbered  roof, 
and  even  deeper  hold  on  earth  for  the  high  soar  of  the 
tower.  This  tower  was  famous  among  its  friends  not 
only  for  substance  and  height  and  proportion  and  pierc- 
ings and  sweet  content  of  bells,  but  also  for  its  bold  up- 
lifting of  the  green  against  the  blue.  To  wit,  for  a  time 
much  longer  than  any  human  memory,  a  sturdy  yew-tree 
had  been  standing  on  the  topmost  stringing-course,  in  a 
sheltering  niche  of  the  southern  face,  with  its  head  over- 
topping the  battlements,  and  scraping  the  scroll  of  the 
south-east  vane.  Backed  as  it  was  by  solid  stone,  no 
storm  had  succeeded  in  tugging  its  tough  roots  out  of  the 
meshes  of  mortar  ;  and  there  it  stood,  and  meant  to  stand, 
a  puzzle  to  gardeners,  a  pleasure  to  jackdaws,  and  the 
pride  of  all  Perlycmcians.  Even  Mr.  Penniloe,  that  great 
improver,  could  not  get  a  penny  towards  his  grand  designs 
until  he  had  signed  a  document  with  both  church-wardens 
that,  happen  what  might,  not  a  hair  of  the  head  of  the 
sacred  yew-tree  should  perish. 

Many  a  penny  would  be  wanted  now,  and  who  was  to 
provide  them  ?  The  parish,  though  large,  and  comprising 
some  of  the  best  land  in  East  Devon,  had  few  resources 
of  commerce,  and  not  much  of  manufacture.  The  bright 
Perle  running  from  east  to  west  clove  it  in  twain,  and  the 
northern  part,  which  was  by  far  the  larger,  belonged  to  the 
Waldrons ;  while  the  southern  (including  the  church  and 


THE    LAP    OF    PEACE  5 

greater  part  of  village)  was  of  divers  owners,  the  chiefest 
being  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Exeter.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  this  sacred  body  never  came  nigh  the  place,  and 
felt  no  obligation  towards  it,  at  the  manhood  of  this  cen- 
tury. 

"  What  is  to  be  done  ?"  cried  the  only  man  who  could 
enter  into  the  grief  of  it,  when  Richard  Horner,  of  Pump- 
ington,  architect,  land-agent,  and  surveyor,  appeared  be- 
fore the  clergyman  and  church -wardens  with  the  report 
required  by  them. 

"  One  of  two  things,"  answered  Mr.  Horner,  a  man  of 
authority  and  brevity,  "  either  let  it  crumble,  or  make  up 
your  minds  to  spend  a  thousand  pounds  upon  it." 

"  We  should  be  prepared  to  spend  that  sum  if  we  had 
only  got  it,"  Mr.  Penniloe  said,  with  that  gentle  smile 
which  made  his  people  fond  of  him. 

"  We  ha'n't  got  a  thousand,  nor  a  hundred  nayther. 
You  talk  a  bit  too  big,  Dick.  You  always  did  have  a  big 
mouth,  you  know." 

The  architect  looked  at  his  cousin,  Farmer  John  (the 
senior  church -warden  of  Perly  cross,  and  chief  tenant  of 
the  capitular  estates),  and  if  his  own  mouth  was  large,  so 
was  that  of  his  kinsman,  as  he  addressed  him  thus. 

"  John  Horner,  we  know  well  enough  what  you  be.  It 
wouldn't  make  much  of  a  hole  in  you  to  put  down  your 
hundred  pounds — to  begin  with." 

"  Well,"  said  his  colleague,  Frank  Farrant,  while  the 
elder  was  in  labour  of  amazement,  "  if  John  will  put  down 
his  hundred  pounds  you  may  trust  me  to  find  fifty." 

"  And  fifty  to  you  is  a  good  bit  more  than  a  thousand 
to  him,  I  reckon.  Book  it,  Mr.  Penniloe,  before  they  run 
back,  and  me  for  another  five-and-twenty." 

"  I  never  said  it ;  I  never  said  a  word  of  it " — Farmer 
John  began  to  gasp,  while  cousin  and  colleague  were  pat- 
ting him  on  the  back,  crying, 

"  Don't  go  back  from  your  word,  John." 

"  Now  did  I  say  it,  Parson  Penniloe  ?"  he  appealed,  as 
soon  as  they  would  let  him  speak ;  "  come  now,  I'll  go  by 
what  you  say  of  it." 

"  No,  Mr.  Horner ;  I  wish  you  had.  You  never  said 
anything  of  the  kind." 


6  PERLYOKOSS 

"  Parson,  you  are -a  gentleman.  I  do  like  a  man  as  tells 
the  truth.  But  as  for  them  fellows,  I'll  just  show  them 
what's  what — whether  I  said  it,  or  no.  I'll  do  it." 

Mr.  Penniloe  smiled,  but  not  with  pleasure  only.  Simple 
and  charitable  as  he  was,  he  could  scarcely  believe  that 
the  glory  of  God  was  the  motive  power  in  the  mind  of 
Farmer  John. 


CHAPTER    II 
FAIRY      FAITH 

AT  the  beginning  of  July  work  was  proceeding  steadily, 
though  not  quite  so  merrily,  perhaps,  as  some  of  the  work- 
men might  have  wished,  because  Mr.  Penniloe  had  for- 
bidden the  presence  of  beer-cans  in  consecrated  ground. 
A  large  firm  of  builders  at  Exeter  (Messrs.  Peveril,  Gibbs 
&  Co.)  had  taken  the  contract  according  to  Mr.  Homer's 
specifications,  and  had  sent  a  strong  staff  of  workmen 
down  under  an  active  junior  partner,  Mr.  Robson  Adney. 
There  are  very  few  noises  that  cannot  find  some  ear  to 
which  they  are  congenial,  and  the  clink  of  the  mason's 
trowel  is  a  delight  to  many  good  people.  But  that  pleas- 
ant sound  is  replaced  too  often  by  one  of  sadder  har- 
mony— the  chink  of  coin  that  says  adieu,  with  all  the  re- 
gret behind  it. 

Perlycross  had  started  well  on  this,  its  greatest  enter- 
prise ;  every  man  was  astonished  at  his  neighbour's  gen- 
erosity, and  with  still  better  reason  at  his  own.  Mr. 
Penniloe's  spirit  rose  above  the  solid  necessity  of  repairs, 
and  aspired  to  richer  embellishment.  That  hideous  gallery 
at  the  western  end,  which  spoiled  the  tower  entrance  and 
obscured  a  fine  window,  should  go  into  the  fire  at  last ; 
the  noble  arch  of  the  chancel  (which  had  been  shored  with 
timber  braces)  should  be  restored  and  reopened,  and  the 
blocked -up  windows  should  again  display  their  lovely 
carving.  In  the  handsomest  manner  Sir  Thomas  Waldron 
had  sent  him  a  check  for  five  hundred  pounds,  which, 
after  all,  was  only  just,  because  the  vaults  of  the  Waldron 
race  lay  at  the  bottom  of  half  the  lapse.  The  Dean  and 
Chapter  of  Exeter  had  contributed  a  hundred  pounds, 
and  the  rector  another  hundred;  and  the  curate's  own 
father — an  ancient  clergyman  in  the  north  of  Devon,  with 


8  PERLYCROSS 

a  tidy  living  and  a  plump  estate  —  had  gone  as  far  as 
twenty  pounds  for  the  honour  of  the  family. 

With  this  money  in  hand,  and  much  more  in  hope,  all 
present  designs  might  well  be  compassed.  But,  alas,  a 
new  temptation  rose,  very  charming,  and  very  costly. 
The  curate  had  long  suspected  that  his  favourite  church 
had  been  endowed  (like  its  smaller  sister  at  Perly  combe) 
with  a  fair  rood-screen,  perhaps  a  fine  one,  worthy  of  the 
days  when  men  could  carve.  And  now,  when  the  heavy 
wooden  gallery  of  Queen  Anne's  time  had  been  removed, 
it  happened  that  Sergeant  Jakes,  the  school-master,  who 
had  seen  a  great  deal  of  old  work  in  Spain,  was  minded 
to  inquire  into  the  bearings  of  the  great  bressemer  at  the 
back.  He  put  his  foot  into  a  hole  beneath  it,  where  solid 
brickwork  was  supposed  to  be,  but  down  went  his  foot 
into  a  lot  of  crumbling  stuff,  and  being  no  more  than  a 
one-armed  man,  Mr.  Jakes  had  a  narrow  escape  of  his 
neck.  Luckily  he  clung  with  his  one  hand  to  a  cross-beam 
still  in  position,  and  being  of  a  very  wiry  frame — as  all 
the  school-children  knew  too  well — was  enabled  to  support 
himself  until  a  ladder  was  clapped  to.  Even  then  it  was 
no  easy  thing  to  extricate  his  foot,  wedged  between  two 
trefoils  of  sharply-cut  stone ;  and  for  more  than  a  week  it 
was  beyond  his  power  to  bring  any  fugitive  boy  to  justice. 
The  parson  was  sent  for  at  once,  and  discovered  the  finest 
stone  screen  in  the  diocese,  removed  from  its  place  by  a 
barbarous  age,  and  plastered  up  in  the  great  western  wall. 

There  was  little  of  that  hot  contention  then  which 
rages  now  over  every  stock  and  stone  appertaining  to  the 
church.  As  the  beauty  of  design  and  the  skill  of  execu- 
tion grew  more  and  more  manifest  to  his  delighted  eyes, 
Mr.  Penniloe  was  troubled  with  no  misgivings  as  to  "graven 
images."  He  might  do  what  he  liked  with  this  grand 
piece  of  work  if  the  money  were  forthcoming.  And  the 
parish  suspected  no  popery  in  it,  when  after  much  council 
with  all  concerned,  and  with  the  needful  faculty,  he  pro- 
posed to  set  up  this  magnificent  screen  as  a  reredos  be- 
neath the  great  chancel  window,  and  behind  the  stone 
communion-table,  generally  called  the  altar  now. 

Yet  brave  as  he  was  and  of  ardent  faith,  some  little  dis- 
may was  natural  when  the  builders  assured  him  that  this 


FAIRY    FAITH  9 

could  not  be  done  with  all  needful  repairs  and  proper 
finish  for  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  and 
they  would  not  even  bind  themselves  to  that,  for  the 
original  was  of  the  best  Beere  stone,  difficult  to  match 
and  hard  to  work.  Mr.  Penniloe  went  to  the  quarries 
and  found  that  this  was  no  exaggeration,  and  having 
some  faith  in  mankind — as  all  who  have  much  in  their 
Maker  must  have — he  empowered  the  firm  to  undertake 
the  task  while  he  cast  about  zealously  for  the  cash. 

With  filial  confidence  he  made  sure  that  his  reverend 
father  must  rejoice  in  another  opportunity  for  glorifying 
God,  and  to  that  effect  he  addressed  him.  But  when  the 
postman  wound  his  horn  at  the  bottom  of  the  village,  and 
the  parson  hurried  down  from  the  church-yard  to  meet 
him,  at  the  expense  of  eightpence  he  received  the  follow- 
ing dry  epistle : 

"SoN  PHILIP, — We  are  much  surprised  and  pained  by 
your  extraordinary  letter.  You  speak  very  largely  of  '  duty 
to  God,'  which  ought  to  be  done  without  talking  of  it, 
while  you  think  lightly  of  your  duty  to  your  parents,  the 
commandment  that  carries  the  blessing.  If  you  had  not 
abandoned  your  fellowship  by  marrying  and  having  a 
family  it  might  have  been  more  in  your  power  to  think 
of  church-windows  and  stone-carving.  We  did  not  ex- 
pect to  be  treated  like  this  after  our  very  handsome  gift 
of  not  more  than  three  months  agone.  Look  for  no  more 
money,  but  for  that  which  a  good  son  values  more  and 
earns  by  keeping  within  his  income — the  love  of  his 
affectionate  parents,  ISAAC  AND  JOAN  PENNILOE." 

"  Ah  !  ah  !  Well,  well,  I  dare  say  I  was  wrong.  But  I 
thought  that  he  could  afford  it,"  said  the  curate  in  his 
simple  way  ;  "  'tis  a  sad  day  for  me  altogether.  But  I  will 
not  be  cast  down,  for  the  Lord  knoweth  best." 

For  on  this  very  day,  a  year  ago,  he  had  lost  the  happi- 
ness of  his  life  and  the  one  love  of  his  manhood.  His  fair 
wife  (a  loyal  and  tender  helpmate,  the  mother  of  his  three 
children,  and  the  skilful  steward  of  his  small  means)  had 
been  found  lying  dead  at  the  foot  of  the  "  Horseshoe  Pitch," 
beneath  Hagdon  Hill.  While  her  husband  was  obliged  to 
2* 


10  PERLYCROSS 

remain  in  the  village,  waiting  for  a  funeral,  she  had  set 
forth  with  none  but  her  younger  boy  Michael  to  visit  an 
old  woman  on  the  outskirts  of  the  parish,  very  far  ad- 
vanced in  years,  but  still  a  very  backward  Christian. 

The  old  woman  was  living  at  the  present  moment,  but 
could  throw  no  light  upon  her  visitor's  sad  fate,  and  indeed 
denied  that  she  had  seen  her  on  that  day.  And  the  poor 
child  who  must  have  beheld  what  happened,  though 
hitherto  a  very  quick  and  clever  little  fellow,  could  never 
be  brought  to  say  a  word  about  it.  Having  scarcely  re- 
covered from  a  sharp  attack  of  measles,  he  had  lost  his 
wits  through  terror,  and  ran  all  the  way  home  at  the  top 
of  his  speed  shouting,  "  Rabbits  !  Rabbits  !  Rabbits  !" 

From  the  child's  sad  condition,  and  a  strict  search  of 
the  "  Horseshoe,"  it  appeared  that  he  had  leaped  after  his 
poor  mother,  but  had  been  saved  from  death  by  a  ledge 
of  brambles  and  furze  which  had  broken  his  fall.  Even 
now,  though  all  trace  of  his  bruises  was  gone,  and  his  blue 
eyes  were  as  bright  as  ever,  the  tender  young  brain  was  so 
dazed  and  daunted  by  the  fall  and  the  fright  and  agony, 
that  the  children  of  the  village  changed  his  nickname 
from  "  Merry  Michael  "  to  "  Mazed  Mikey." 

Mr.  Penuiloe  had  been  fighting  bravely  against  the  sad 
memories  of  this  day.  To  a  deeply  religious  mind  like  his, 
despondency  was  of  the  nature  of  doubt,  and  sorrow  long 
indulged  grew  into  sin.  But  now  a  cloud  of  darkness  fell 
around  him,  the  waves  of  the  flood  went  over  his  soul, 
his  heart  was  afflicted  and  in  sore  trouble,  and  there  was 
none  to  deliver  him. 

All  men  have  their  times  of  depression,  but  few  feel  such 
agonies  of  dejection  as  the  firm  believer  and  lover  of  his  faith 
when  harrowing  doubts  assail  him.  The  Rector  of  Perly- 
cross,  Mr.  Chevithorne,  though  by  no  means  a  man  of  vast 
piety,  had  a  short  way  of  dealing  with  such  attacks,  which 
he  always  found  successful.  To  his  certain  knowledge  all 
debility  of  faith  sprang  directly  from  "  lowness  of  the 
system,  "  and  his  remedy  against  all  such  complaints  was 
a  glass  of  hot  brandy-and-water.  But  his  curate's  religion 
was  a  less  robust  because  a  far  more  active  power,  and  his 
keener  mind  was  not  content  to  repel  all  such  sallies  as 
temptations  of  the  devil. 


FAIRY   FAITH  11 

Sensitive,  diffident,  and  soft-hearted,  he  was  apt  to  feel 
too  acutely  any  wound  to  his  affections ;  and  of  all  the 
world  now  left  to  him,  the  dearest  one  was  his  mother.  Or, 
at  any  rate,  he  thought  so  for  the  present,  though  a  cer- 
tain little  tender  claim  was  creeping  closer  and  closer  into 
the  inmost  cell  of  love. ' 

"  Can  mother  have  forgotten  what  day  it  would  be 
when  I  should  receive  these  cruel  words  ?"  he  said  to  him- 
self, as  he  went  sadly  up  the  hill  towards  his  whitewashed 
dwelling-place,  having  no  heart  left  for  the  finest  of  stone- 
carvings.  "  If  she  did,  it  was  not  like  her ;  and  if  she  re- 
membered, it  seems  still  worse.  Surely  he  would  not  have 
dared  to  sign  her  name  without  her  knowledge.  But 
whenever  he  thinks  of  that  fellowship — well,  perhaps  it 
was  wrong  on  my  part  to  attempt  so  much.  It  is  high  time 
to  look  more  closely  into  ways  and  means." 

That  was  the  proper  thing  to  do  beyond  a  doubt,  and  he 
hastened  inside  to  do  it.  But  when  he  sat  in  his  lonely 
book-room,  with  the  evening  shadows  of  the  dark  ilex 
slowly  creeping  over  him,  his  mind  went  back  into  the 
past,  and  a  mighty  sadness  conquered  him.  Instead  of  the 
list  of  subscriptions  for  the  church  he  had  drawn  from  the 
long  portfolio  (which  his  wife  had  given  him  on  the  last 
wedding-day  they  should  ever  keep  together)  a  copy  of  a 
sad,  despondent  hymn,  which  he  had  written  in  the 
newness  of  his  grief.  As  he  read  the  forgotten  lines 
once  more  their  deep  gloom  encompassed  him ;  even 
the  twinkle  of  hope  in  which  they  ended  seemed  a 
mockery. 

"  Will  it  ever  be  so,  or  is  it  all  a  dream,  inspired  by 
our  longings  and  our  self-conceit  ?  Whatever  is  pleasant 
or  good  or  precious  is  snatched  from  our  grasp,  and  we 
call  it  a  trial,  and  live  on,  in  the  belief  that  we  are  pun- 
ished for  our  good,  and  shall  be  rewarded  tenfold.  If  so, 
it  can  be  for  those  alone  who  are  able  to  believe  always ; 
who  can  dismiss  every  shadow  of  doubt,  and  live  with 
their  Maker  face  to  face.  Oh,  that  I  could  do  so  !  But  I 
cannot ;  my  shallow  mind  is  vexed  by  every  breeze.  When 
I  was  a  young  man  I  felt  pity  and  even  contempt  for 
Gowler's  unfaith — a  man  of  far  superior  powers.  He  gave 
up  his  fellowship,  like  a  conscientious  man,  while  I 


12  PERLYOROSS 

preach  to  others,  and  am  myself  a  castaway.  Oh,  Ruth, 
Ruth,  if  you  could  only  see  me  I" 

This  man  of  holy  life,  and  of  pure  devotion  to  his 
sacred  office,  bent  his  head  low  in  the  agony  of  the  mo- 
ment, and  clasped  his  hands  over  his  whitening  hair. 
How  far  he  was  out  of  his  proper  mind  was  shown  by  his 
sitting  in  the  sacred  chair,*  the  old  "  dropping-chair  "  of 
the  parish,  which  had  been  sent  back  that  morning.  Of 
this,  and  of  all  around,  he  took  no  heed  ;  for  the  tide  of 
his  life  was  at  the  lowest  ebb,  and  his  feeble  heart  was 
fluttering  like  a  weed  in  shallow  water. 

But  his  comfort  was  not  far  to  seek.  After  sundry 
soft  taps  and  a  shuffle  of  the  handle  the  door  was  opened 
quietly,  and  a  little  girl  came  dancing  in,  bringing  a  gleam 
of  summer  sunshine  in  a  cloud  of  golden  hair.  The  gloom 
of  the  cold  room  fled  as  if  it  had  no  business  near  her, 
and  a  thrush  outside  (who  knew  her  well)  broke  forth  into 
a  gratitude  of  song.  For  this  was  little  Faith  Penniloe, 
seven  years  old  last  Tuesday,  the  prettiest  and  the  liveliest 
soul  in  all  the  parish  of  Perly cross;  and  Faith  being 
too  substantial,  perhaps,  everybody  called  her  "  Fay,"  or 
"Fairy."  Nothing  ever  troubled  her  except  the  letter  r, 
and  even  that  only  when  it  wanted  to  come  first. 

"Father,  fathery,  how  much  colder  is  the  tea  to  get?" 
she  cried ;  "  I  call  it  very  yude  of  you  to  do  what  you 
like,  because  you  happen  to  be  older." 

As  the  little  girl  ran,  with  her  arms  stretched  forth, 
and  a  smile  on  her  lips  that  was  surety  for  a  kiss — a  sud- 
den amazement  stopped  her.  The  father  of  her  love  and 
trust  and  worship  was  not  even  looking  at  her;  his  face 
was  cold  and  turned  away ;  his  arms  were  not  spread  for 
a  jump  and  a  scream.  He  might  as  well  have  no  child  at 
all,  or  none  to  whom  he  was  all  in  all.  For  a  moment  her 
simple  heart  was  daunted,  her  dimpled  hands  fell  on  her 
pinafore,  and  the  sparkle  of  her  blue  eyes  became  a  gleam 
of  tears. 


*  In  country  parishes  an  easy-chair  for  the  use  of  the  sick  and 
elderly  was  provided  from  the  communion  offerings,  and  lent  to  those 
most  in  need  of  it.  When  not  so  required,  it  was  kept  under  cover, 
and  regarded  with  some  reverence,  from  its  origin  and  use. 


FAIRY    FAITH  13 

Then  she  gathered  up  her  courage,  which  had  never 
known  repulse,  and  came  and  stood  between  her  father's 
knees,  and  looked  up  at  him  very  tenderly,  as  if  she  had 
grieved  him  and  yearned  to  be  forgiven. 

"  Child,  you  have  taught  me  the  secret  of  faith,"  he 
cried,  with  a  sudden  light  shed  on  him ;  "  I  will  go  as 
a  little  one  to  my  Father,  without  a  word,  and  look  up  at 
Him." 

Then,  as  he  lifted  her  into  his  lap,  and  she  threw  her 
arms  around  his  neck,  he  felt  that  he  was  not  alone  in  the 
world,  and  the  warmth  of  his  heart  returned  to  him. 


CHAPTER    III 
THE    LYCH-GATE 


THE  old  church,  standing  on  a  bluff  above  the  river,  is 
well  placed  for  looking  up  and  down  the  fertile  valley. 
Flashes  of  the  water  on  its  westward  course  may  be  caught 
from  this  point  of  vantage,  amid  the  tranquillity  of  an- 
cient trees  and  sunny  breadths  of  pasture.  For  there  the 
land  has  smoothed  itself  into  a  smiling  plain,  casting  off 
the  wrinkles  of  hills  and  gullies,  and  the  frown  of  shaggy 
brows  of  heather.  The  rigour  of  the  long  flinty  range  is 
past,  and  a  flower  can  stand  without  a  bush  to  back  it,  and 
the  wind  has  ceased  from  shuddering. 

But  the  Perle  has  not  come  to  these  pleasures  yet,  as  it 
flows  on  the  north  of  the  church-yard,  and  some  hundred 
feet  beneath  it.  The  broad,  shallow  channel  is  strewn 
with  flint,  and  the  little  stream  cannot  fill  it,  except  in  times 
of  heavy  flood ;  for  the  main  of  its  water  has  been  divert- 
ed to  work  the  woollen  factory,  and  rejoins  the  natural 
course  at  the  bridge  two  or  three  hundred  yards  below. 
On  the  farther  side  the  land  rises  to  the  barren  height  of 
Beacon  Hill,  which  shelters  Sir  Thomas  Waldron's  house, 
and  is  by  its  conical  form  distinct  from  other  extremities 
of  the  Black-down  Chain ;  for  the  southern  barrier  of  the 
valley  (which  is  about  three  miles  wide  at  its  mouth)  is 
formed  by  the  long  dark  chine  of  Hagdon  Hill,  which 
ends  abruptly  in  a  steep  descent ;  and  seeing  that  all  this 
part  of  the  vale,  and  the  hills  which  shape  it,  are  com- 
prised in  the  parish  of  Perlycross,  it  will  become  clear  that 
a  single  parson,  if  he  attempts  to  go  through  all  his  work, 
must  have  a  very  fine  pair  of  legs,  and  a  sound  constitu- 
tion to  quicken  them. 

Mr.  Penniloe,  now  well  advanced  in  the  fifth  decade,  was 
of  very  spare  habit  and  active  frame,  remarkable  also  for 


THE    LYCH-GATE  15 

his  springy  gait,  except  at  those  periods  of  dark  depres- 
sion with  which  he  was  afflicted  now  and  then.  But  the 
leading  fault  of  his  character  was  inattention  to  his  vict- 
uals, not  from  any  want  of  common -sense  or  crude  de- 
light in  fasting,  but  rather  through  self-neglect  and  the 
loss  of  the  one  who  used  to  attend  to  him.  To  see  to 
that  bodily  welfare,  about  which  he  cared  so  little,  there 
was  no  one  left  except  a  careful,  active,  and  devoted  servant, 
Thyatira  Muggridge.  Thyatira  had  been  in  his  employ- 
ment ever  since  his  marriage,  and  was  now  the  cook,  house- 
keeper, and  general  manager  at  the  rectory.  But  though 
in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  and  as  steady  as  a  pyr- 
amid, she  felt  herself  still  too  young  to  urge  sound  dietary 
advice  upon  her  master  as  she  longed  to  do.  The  women 
of  the  parish  blamed  her  sadly  as  they  watched  his  want 
of  fattening ;  but  she  could  only  sigh,  and  try  to  tempt 
him  with  her  simple  skill  and  zeal. 

On  the  morrow  of  that  sad  anniversary  which  had 
caused  him  such  distress,  the  curate  was  blessed  with  his 
usual  vigour  of  faith  and  courage  and  philanthropy.  An 
affectionate  letter  from  his  mother,  enclosing  a  bank-or- 
der for  ten  pounds,  had  proved  that  she  was  no  willing 
partner  in  the  father's  harshness.  The  day  was  very 
bright ;  his  three  pupils  had  left  him  for  their  summer 
holidays,  and  there  happened  to  be  no  urgent  call  for  any 
parochial  visits.  There  was  nothing  to  stop  him  from  a 
good  turn  to-day  among  trowel  and  chisel  and  calipers ; 
he  would  see  that  every  man  was  at  his  work,  and  that 
every  stroke  of  work  was  truthful. 

Having  slurred  his  early  dinner  with  his  usual  zest,  he 
was  hastening  down  the  passage  for  his  hat  and  stick 
when  Thyatira  Muggridge  came  upon  him  from  the  pantry, 
with  a  jug  of  toast-and- water  in  her  hand. 

"Do'e  give  me  just  a  minute,  sir,"  she  whispered,  with 
a  glance  at  the  door  of  the  dining-room  where  the  chil- 
dren had  been  left ;  and  he  followed  her  into  the  narrow 
back-parlour,  the  headquarters  of  his  absent  pupils. 

Mr.  Penniloe  thought  very  highly  of  his  house-keeper's 
judgment  and  discretion,  and  the  more  so,  perhaps,  because 
she  had  been  converted,  by  a  stroke  of  his  own  readiness, 
from  the  doctrines  of  the  "  Antipsedo-Baptists  " — as  they 


1 6  PERLYCROSS 

used  to  call  themselves — to  those  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. Her  father,  moreover,  was  one  of  the  chief  tenants 
on  the  North  Devon  property  of  Mr.  Penniloe  the  elder ; 
and  simplicity,  shrewdness,  and  honesty  were  established 
in  that  family.  So  her  master  was  patient  with  her,  though 
his  hat  and  stick  were  urgent. 

"  Would  you  please  to  mind,  sir,"  began  Thyatira,  with 
her  thick  red  arms  moving  over  her  apron  like  rolling-pins 
upon  pie-crust,  "if  little  Master  Mike  was  to  sleep  with  me  a 
bit,  till  his  brother  Master  Harry  cometh  back  from  school?" 

"  I  dare  say  you  have  some  good  reason  for  asking  ;  but 
what  is  it,  Mrs.  Muggridge  ?"  The  house-keeper  was  a 
spinster,  but  had  received  brevet-rank  from  the  village. 

"  Only  that  he  is  so  lonesome,  sir,  in  that  end  hattick, 
by  his  little  self.  You  know  how  he  hath  been,  ever 
since  his  great  scare  ;  and  now  some  brutes  of  boys  in  the 
village  have  been  telling  him  a  lot  of  stuff  about  Spring- 
heel  Jack.  They  say  he  is  coming  into  this  part  now, 
with  his  bloody  heart  and  dark  lantern.  And  the  poor 
little  lamb  hath  a  window  that  looks  right  away  over  the 
church-yard.  Last  night  he  were  sobbing  so  in  his  sleep, 
enough  to  break  his  little  heart.  The  sound  came  all 
across  the  lumber-room,  till  I  went  and  fetched  him  into 
my  bed,  and  then  he  were  as  happy  as  an  angel." 

"  Poor  little  man  !  I  should  have  thought  of  it,  since 
he  became  so  nervous.  But  I  have  always  tried  to  make 
my  children  feel  that  the  Lord  is  ever  near  them." 

"  He  compasseth  the  righteous  round  about,"  Mrs.  Mug- 
gridge replied,  with  a  curtsy,  as  a  pious  woman  quoting 
Holy  Writ ;  "  but  for  all  that,  you  can't  call  Him  company, 
sir;  and  that's  what  these  little  ones  lacks  of.  Master 
Harry  is  as  brave  as  a  lion,  because  he  is  so  much  older. 
But,  hoping  no  offence,  his  own  dear  mother  would  never 
have  left  that  little  soul  all  by  himself." 

"  You  are  right,  and  I  was  wrong,"  replied  the  master, 
concealing  the  pain  her  words  had  caused.  "  Take  him  to 
your  room  ;  it  is  very  kind  of  you.  But  where  will  you 
put  Susanna  ?" 

"  That  will  be  easy  enough,  sir.  I  will  make  up  a  bed 
in  the  lumber-room,  if  you  have  no  objection.  Less  time 
for  her  at  the  looking-glass,  I  reckon." 


THE    LYCH-GATE  17 

Mr.  Penniloe  smiled  gravely — for  that  grievance  was  a 
classic — and  had  once  more  possessed  himself  of  his  hat 
and  stick,  when  the  earnest  house-keeper  detained  him  once 


If  you  please,  sir,  you  don't  believe,  do  you  now,  in 
all  that  they  says  about  that  Spring-heeled  Jack?  It 
scarcely  seemeth  reasonable  to  a  Christian  mind.  And  yet 
when  I  questioned  Mr.  Jakes  about  it,  he  was  not  for  deny- 
ing that  there  might  be  such  a  thing — and  him  the  very 
bravest  man  in  all  this  parish !" 

"  Mrs.  Muggridge,  it  is  nonsense.  Mr.  Jakes  knows 
better.  He  must  have  been  trying  to  terrify  you.  A  man 
who  has  been  through  the  Peninsular  campaign  !  I  hope 
I  may  remember  to  reprove  him." 

"  Oh  no,  I  would  beg  you,  sir,  not  to  do  that.  It  was 
only  said — as  one  might  express  it,  promiscuous,  and  in 
a  manner  of  speaking.  I  would  never  have  mentioned 
it  if  I  had  thought—" 

Knowing  that  her  face  was  very  red,  her  master  re- 
frained from  looking  at  it,  and  went  his  way  at  last,  after 
promising  to  let  the  gallant  Jakes  escape.  It  was  not 
much  more  than  a  hundred  yards  along  the  chief  street  of 
the  village  from  the  rectory  to  the  southern  and  chief  en- 
trance of  the  church-yard,  opposite  to  which,  at  a  corner 
of  the  road  and  partly  in  front  of  the  ruined  Abbey,  stood 
an  old-fashioned  inn,  the  Ivy-bush.  This,  though  a  very 
well-conducted  house,  and  quiet  enough  (except  at  fair- 
time),  was  not  in  the  parson's  opinion  a  pleasing  induction 
to  the  lych-gate ;  but  there  it  had  stood  for  generations, 
and  the  landlord,  Walter  Haddon,  held  sound  Church 
views,  for  his  wife  had  been  a  daughter  of  Channing, 
the  clerk,  and  his  premises  belonged  to  the  Dean  and 
Chapter. 

Mr.  Penniloe  glanced  at  the  yellow  porch  with  his  usual 
regret  but  no  ill-will,  when  a  flash  of  bright  colour  caught 
his  eye.  In  the  outer  corner  he  descried  a  long  scarlet 
fishing-rod  propped  against  the  wall,  with  the  collar  and 
three  flies  fluttering.  All  was  so  bright  and  spick-and- 
span,  that  a  trout's  admiration  would  be  quite  safe  ;  and 
the  clergyman  (having  been  a  skilful  angler  till  his  strict 
views  of  duty  deprived  him  of  that  joy)  indulged  in  a 


1 8  PERLYCROSS 

smile  of  sagacity,  as  he  opened  his  double  eye-glass  and 
scrutinized  this  fine  object. 

"  Examining  my  flies,  are  you,  reverend  ?  Well,  I  hope 
you  are  satisfied  with  them." 

The  gentleman  who  spoke  in  this  short  way  came  out 
of  the  porch,  with  a  pipe  in  his  hand  and  a  large  fish- 
ing-creel swinging  under  his  left  arm. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Dr.  Gronow,  for  the  liberty  I 
am  taking.  Yes ;  they  are  very  fine  flies  indeed.  I  hope 
you  have  had  good  sport  with  them." 

"  Pretty  fair,  sir,  pretty  fair,1'  the  owner  answered, 
cheerfully ;  "  one  must  not  expect  much  in  this  weather. 
But  I  have  had  at  least  three  rises." 

"  It  is  much  to  your  credit,  so  far  as  I  can  judge, 
under  the  circumstances.  And  you  have  not  had  time 
to  know  our  water  yet.  You  will  find  it  pretty  fishing 
when  you  get  accustomed  to  it." 

The  angler,  a  tall,  thin  man  of  sixty,  with  a  keen,  grave 
face  and  wiry  gray  hair,  regarded  the  parson  steadfastly. 
This  was  but  the  second  time  they  had  met,  although 
Dr.  Gronow  had  been  for  some  while  an  important  pa- 
rishioner of  Perlycross,  having  bought  a  fair  estate  at 
Priestwell,  a  hamlet  little  more  than  a  mile  from  the  vil- 
lage. People  who  pretended  to  know  all  about  him 
said  that  he  had  retired  suddenly,  for  some  unknown 
reason,  from  long  and  large  medical  practice  at  Bath. 
There  he  had  been,  as  they  declared,  the  first  authority  in 
all  cases  of  difficulty  and  danger,  but  not  at  all  a  favour- 
ite in  the  world  of  fashion  because  of  his  rough  and 
contemptuous  manners  and  sad  want  of  sympathy  with 
petty  ailments.  Some  pious  old  lady  of  rank  had 
called  him,  in  a  passionate  moment,  "  the  godless  Gro- 
now," and  whether  he  deserved  the  description  or  not, 
it  had  cleaved  to  him  like  a  sand-leech.  But  the  doc- 
tor only  smiled  and  went  his  way ;  the  good-will  of  the 
poor  was  sweeter  to  him  than  the  good  word  of  the 
wealthy. 

"  Let  me  say  a  word  to  you,  Mr.  Penniloe,"  he  began, 
as  the  curate  was  turning  away ;  "  I  have  had  it  in  my  mind 
for  some  short  time.  I  believe  you  are  much  attached 
to  Sir  Thomas  Waldron." 


THE    LYCH-GATE  19 

"He  is  one  of  my  oldest  and  most  valued  friends. 
I  have  the  highest  possible  regard  for  him." 

"  He  is  a  valuable  man  in  the  parish,  I  suppose — 
comes  to  church  regularly — sets  a  good  example  ?" 

"  If  all  my  parishioners  were  like  him,  it  would  be  a 
comfort  to  me  and — and  a  benefit  to  them." 

"  Well  said — according  to  your  point  of  view.  I  like 
a  straightforward  man,  sir.  But  I  want  you  to  be  a  lit- 
tle crooked  now.  You  have  an  old  friend,  Harrison 
Gowler." 

"  Yes,"  Mr.  Penniloe  replied,  with  some  surprise,  "  I 
was  very  fond  of  Gowler  at  Oxford,  and  admired  him 
very  greatly.  But  I  have  not  seen  him  for  some  years." 

"  He  is  now  the  first  man  in  London  in  his  special  line. 
Could  you  get  him  to  visit  you  for  a  day  or  two,  and  see 
Sir  Thomas  Waldron,  without  letting  him  know  why  ?" 

"You  astonish  me,  Dr.  Gronow.  There  is  nothing 
amiss  with  Sir  Thomas,  except  a  little  trouble  now  and 
then  caused  by  an  ancient  wound,  I  believe." 

"Ah,  so  you  think;  and  so  perhaps  does  he.  But  I 
suppose  you  can  keep  a  thing  to  yourself.  If  I  tell  you 
something,  will  you  give  me  your  word  that  it  shall  go  no 
further  ?" 

The  two  gentlemen  were  standing  in  the  shadow  of  the 
lych-gate  as  a  shelter  from  the  July  sun,  while  the  clergy- 
man gazed  with  much  alarm  at  the  other,  and  gave  the 
required  promise.  Dr.  Gronow  looked  round,  and  then 
said  in  a  low  voice : 

"  Sir  Thomas  is  a  strong  and  temperate  man,  and  has 
great  powers  of  endurance.  I  hope  most  heartily  that  I 
may  be  wrong.  But  I  am  convinced  that  within  three 
months  he  will  be  lying  upon  this  stone,  while  you  with 
your  surplice  on  are  standing  in  that  porch  waiting  for 
the  bearers  to  advance." 

"  Good  God !"  cried  the  parson,  with  tears  rushing  to 
his  eyes ;  then  he  lifted  his  hat,  and  bowed  reverently. 
"  May  He  forgive  me  for  using  His  holy  name.  But  the 
shock  is  too  terrible  to  think  of.  It  would  certainly  break 
poor  Nicie's  heart.  What  right  have  you  to  speak  of  such 
a  dreadful  thing  ?" 

"  Is  it  such  a  dreadful  thing  to  go  to  heaven  ?    That  of 


20  PERLYCEOSS 

course  you  guarantee  for  your  good  friends.  But  the 
point  is — how  to  put  off  that  catastrophe  of  bliss." 

"  Flippancy  is  not  the  way  to  meet  it,  Dr.  Gronow.  We 
have  every  right  to  try  to  keep  a  valuable  life,  and  a  life 
dear  to  all  that  have  the  sense  to  feel  its  value.  Even  a 
scornful  man — such  as  you  appear  to  be,  unable  to  per- 
ceive the  childish  bitterness  of  scorn — must  admire  valour, 
sense  of  duty,  and  simplicity,  though  they  may  not  be 
his  own  leading  qualities.  And  once  more  I  ask  you  to 
explain  what  you  have  said." 

"  You  know  Jemmy  Fox  pretty  well,  I  think  ?"  Dr. 
Gronow  took  a  seat  upon  the  coffin-stone,  and  spoke  as  if 
he  liked  the  parson's  vigour — "Jemmy  is  a  very  clever 
fellow  in  his  way,  though  of  course  he  has  no  experience 
yet.  We  old  stagers  are  always  glad  to  help  a  young 
member  of  our  profession  who  has  a  proper  love  for  it, 
and  is  modest,  and  hard-working.  But  not  until  he  asks 
us,  you  must  clearly  understand.  You  see  we  are  not  so 
meddlesome  as  you  reverends  are.  Well,  from  the  ac- 
count young  Fox  gives  me,  there  can,  I  fear,  be  little  doubt 
about  the  nature  of  the  case.  It  is  not  at  all  a  common 
one ;  and  so  far  as  we  know  yet,  there  is  but  one  remedy 
— a  very  difficult  operation." 

Mr.  Penniloe  was  liable  to  a  kind  of  nervous  quivering 
when  anything  happened  to  excite  him,  and  some  of  his 
very  best  sermons  had  been  spoiled  by  this  visitation. 

"  I  am  troubled  more  than  I  can  tell  you — I  am  grieved 
beyond  description  " — he  began  with  an  utterance  which 
trembled  more  and  more  ;  "  and  you  think  that  Gowler  is 
the  only  man,  to — to — " 

"  To  know  the  proper  course,  and  to  afford  him  the  last 
chance.  Gowler  is  not  a  surgeon,  as  I  need  not  tell  you. 
And  at  present  such  a  case  could  be  dealt  with  best  in 
Paris,  although  we  have  young  men  rising  now  who  will 
make  it  otherwise  before  very  long.  Sir  Thomas  will  lis- 
ten to  nothing,  I  fear,  from  a  young  practitioner  like  Fox. 
He  has  been  so  knocked  about  himself,  and  so  close  to 
death's  door  more  than  once,  that  he  looks  upon  this  as  a 
fuss  about  nothing.  But  I  know  better,  Mr.  Penniloe." 

"  You  are  too  likely  to  be  right.  Fox  has  told  me  of 
several  cases  of  your  wonderful  penetration.  That  young 


THE    LYCH-GATE  21 

man  thinks  so  much  of  you.  Oh,  Dr.  Gronow,  I  implore 
you  as  a  man,  whatever  your  own  opinions  are,  say  noth- 
ing to  unsettle  that  young  fellow's  mind.  You  know  not 
the  misery  you  may  cause,  and  you  cannot  produce  any 
happiness.  I  speak — I  speak  with  the  strongest  feelings. 
You  will  think  that  I  should  not  have  spoken  at  all — and 
I  dare  say  it  is  unusual.  But  you  will  forgive  me,  when 
you  remember  it  is  my  duty  as  a  clergyman." 

"  Surely  you  are  responsible  for  me  as  well,"  replied 
the  doctor,  with  a  kinder  tone  ;  "  but  perhaps  you  regard 
me  as  beyond  all  cure.  Well,  I  will  promise  what  you 
ask,  good  sir.  Your  sheep,  or  your  foxes,  shall  not  stray 
through  me.  Will  you  do  what  I  suggest  about  Gowler  ?" 

"  I  will  try  to  get  him  down ;  but  from  all  that  I  hear, 
he  is  one  of  the  busiest  men  in  London.  And  I  dislike 
procuring  his  opinion  on  the  sly.  Excuse  me — I  know 
how  well  you  meant  it.  But  perhaps,  through  Lady  Wal- 
dron,  he  may  be  brought  down  in  the  regular  course,  and 
have  the  whole  case  laid  before  him." 

"  That  would  be  the  best  thing,  if  it  could  be  managed. 
Good-bye !  I  go  a-fishing,  as  your  prototypes  expressed 
it." 


CHAPTEE   IV 
NICIE 

IN  the  bright  summer  sunshine  the  old  church  looked 
like  a  ship  that  had  been  shattered  by  the  waves,  and  was 
hoisted  in  a  dry-dock  for  repairs.  To  an  ignorant  eye  it 
appeared  to  be  in  peril  of  foundering  and  plunging  into 
the  depth  below,  so  frequent  and  large  were  the  rifts  and 
chasms  yawning  in  the  ancient  framework.  Especially 
was  there  one  long  gap  in  the  footings  of  the  south  chan- 
cel wall,  where  three  broad  arches  were  being  turned,  and 
a  solid  buttress  rising,  to  make  good  the  weakness  of  the 
Waldron  vault.  Sacks  of  lime,  and  piles  of  sand,  coils  of 
cord,  and  blocks  of  stone,  scaffold-poles  and  timber-balks, 
wheelbarrows  grovelling  on  their  bellies,  shovels  and  hods 
and  planks  and  ladders,  hats  upon  tombstones,  and  jackets 
on  graves,  sacred  niches  garnished  with  tobacco-pipes,  and 
pious  memories  enlivened  by  "  Jim  Crow  " — so  cheerful 
was  the  British  workman,  before  he  was  educated. 

"  Parson  coming,"  was  whispered  round,  while  pewter 
pots  jumped  under  slabs,  and  jugs  had  coats  thrown  over 
them,  for  Mr.  Penniloe  would  have  none  of  their  drinking 
in  the  church-yard,  and  was  loath  to  believe  that  they  could 
do  it,  with  all  the  sad  examples  beneath  them.  But  now 
his  mind  was  filled  with  deeper  troubles,  and  even  the 
purpose  of  his  visit  had  faded  from  his  memory. 

"  Just  in  time,  sir.  I  was  waiting  for  you,"  said  Mr. 
Robson  Adney,  standing  in  front  of  the  shored-up  screen 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  tower ;  "  if  it  bears  the  strain 
of  this  new  plinth,  the  rest  is  a  matter  of  detail.  Your 
idea  of  the  brace  was  capital,  and  the  dovetail  will  never 
show  at  all.  Now,  Charley,  steady  there — not  too  heavy. 
Five  minutes  will  show  whether  we  are  men  or  muffs. 
But  don't  stand  quite  so  close,  sir.  I  think  we  have  got 


NICIE  23 

it  all  right;  but  if  there  should  happen  to  be  a  bit  of 
cross-grain  stone — bear  to  the  left,  you  lubber  there  !  Beg 
your  pardon,  sir,  but  I  never  said  '  damn.'  " 

"  I  hope  not— I  hope  not,  Mr.  Adney.  You  remember 
where  you  are  too  well  for  that.  Though  I  trust  that  you 
would  say  it  nowhere.  Ah,  it  is  a  little  on  the  warp,  I 
fear." 

"  No,  sir,  no.  Go  to  the  end,  and  look  along.  It  is 
only  the  bevel  that  makes  it  look  so.  Could  hardly  be 
better  if  the  Lord  Himself  had  made  it.  Trust  Peveril, 
Gibbs  &  Co.  for  knowing  their  work.  Hollo!  not  so 
hard  —  ease  her,  ease  her!  Stand  clear  for  your  lives, 
men  !  Down  she  comes  !" 

They  were  none  too  quick,  for  the  great  stone  screen, 
after  bulging  and  sagging  and  shaking  like  a  cobweb 
throughout  its  massive  tracery,  parted  in  the  middle  and 
fell  mightily. 

"Any  one  hurt?  Then  you  haven't  got  what  you 
ought,"  shouted  Adney,  with  his  foot  upon  a  pinnacle ; 
"  old  Peter  made  a  saint  of  ?  Get  a  roller,  and  fetch  him 
out.  None  the  worse,  old  chap,  are  you  now  ?  Take  him 
to  the  Ivy-bush,  and  get  a  drop  of  brandy." 

Sudden  as  the  crash  had  been  no  life  was  lost,  no  limb 
broken,  and  scarcely  a  bruise  received,  except  by  an  el- 
derly workman,  and  he  was  little  the  worse,  being  safely 
enshrined  in  the  niche  where  some  good  saint  had  stood. 
Being  set  upon  his  feet,  he  rubbed  his  elbows,  and  then 
swore  a  little  ;  therefore,  naturally  enough,  he  was  known 
as  "  Saint  Peter  "  for  the  residue  of  his  life  among  us. 

But  no  sooner  did  Mr.  Adney  see  that  no  one  was  hurt 
seriously  than  he  began  to  swear  anything  but  a  little,  in- 
stead of  thanking  Providence. 

"  A  pretty  job — a  fine  job,  by  the  holy  poker !"  he  kept 
on  exclaiming,  as  he  danced  among  the  ruins ;  "  why, 
they'll  laugh  at  us  all  over  Devonshire.  And  that's  not 
the  worst  of  it.  By  the  Lord,  I  wish  it  was.  Three  or 
four  hundred  pounds  out  of  our  pockets.  A  nice  set  of 

fellows  you  are,  aren't  you  ?  I  wish  I  might  go  this 

very  moment — " 

"  Is  this  all  your  gratitude,  Robson  Adney,  for  the 
goodness  of  the  Lord  to  you  ?"  Mr.  Penniloe  had  been 


24  PEBLYCEOSS 

outside  the  crash,  as  he  happened  to  be  watching  from 
one  end  the  adjustment  of  the  piece  inserted.  "  What 
are  a  few  bits  of  broken  stone  compared  with  the  life  of 
a  human  being — cut  off,  perhaps,  with  an  oath  upon  his 
lips,  close  to  the  very  house  of  God  ?  In  truth,  this  is  a 
merciful  deliverance.  Down  upon  your  knees,  my  friends, 
and  follow  me  in  a  few  simple  words  of  acknowledgment 
to  the  Giver  of  all  good.  Truly  He  hath  been  gracious 
to  us." 

"  Don't  want  much  more  of  that  sort  of  grace.  Coup 
de  grace,  I  call  it,"  muttered  Mr.  Adney.  Nevertheless, 
he  knelt  down,  with  the  dust  upon  his  forehead ;  and  the 
workmen  did  the  like ;  for  here  was  another  month's  good 
wages. 

Mr.  Penniloe  always  spoke  well  and  readily  when  his 
heart  was  urgent;  and  now,  as  he  knelt  between  two 
lowly  graves,  the  men  were  wondering  at  him.  "  Nev- 
er thought  a'  could  have  dooed  it  without  his  gown !" 
"  Why,  a'  put  up  his  two  hands  as  if  'twor  money  in  his 
pockets  !"  "  Blest  if  I  don't  send  for  he  when  my  time 
cometh  !"  "  Faix,  sor,  but  the  Almighty  must  be  proud 
of  you  to  spake  for  Him  !"  Thus  they  received  it ;  and 
the  senior  church- warden  coming  in  to  see  the  rights  of 
the  matter,  told  every  one  (when  he  recovered  his  wits) 
that  he  had  never  felt  so  proud  of  the  parish  minister  be- 
fore. Even  the  parson  felt  warmly  in  his  heart  that  he 
had  gone  up  in  their  opinions,  which  made  him  more 
diffident  in  his  own. 

"Don't  'e  be  cast  down,  sir,"  said  one  fine  fellow, 
whom  the  heavy  architrave  had  missed  by  about  an  inch, 
saving  a  young  widow  and  seven  little  orphans.  "  We 
will  put  it  all  to  rights  in  next  to  no  time.  You  do  put 
up  with  it  uncommon  fine,  though  the  Lord  may  have 
laboured  to  tempt  'e,  like  Job.  But  I  ha'n't  heard  a  single 
curse  come  out  of  your  lips — not  but  what  it  might  with- 
out my  knowing.  But  here  coom'th  a  young  man  in  bright 
clothes  with  news  for  'e." 

Mr.  Penniloe  turned,  and  behold  it  was  Bob  Cornish, 
one  of  his  best  Sunday-school  boys  last  year,  patient  and 
humble  in  a  suit  of  corduroy,  but  now  gay  and  lordly  in 
the  livery  of  the  Waldrons,  buff  with  blue  edgings,  and 


NICIE  25 

buttons  of  bright  gold.  His  father  sold  rush-lights  at  the 
bottom  of  the  village,  but  his  mother  spent  her  time  in 
thinking. 

"  From  Sir  Thomas  ?"  asked  the  curate,  as  the  lad  with 
some  attempt  at  a  soldier's  salute  produced  a  note,  folded 
like  a  cocked  hat,  and  not  easy  to  undo. 

"  No,  sir,  from  my  lady,"  answered  Robert,  falling 
back. 

Mr.  Penniloe  was  happy  enough  to  believe  that  all 
things  are  ordered  and  guided  for  us  by  supreme  good- 
ness and  wisdom.  But  nature  insisted  that  his  hands 
should  tremble  at  anything  of  gravity  to  any  one  he  loved ; 
and  now  after  Dr.  Gronow's  warning,  his  double  eye-glass 
rattled  in  its  tortoise-shell  frame,  as  he  turned  it  upon  the 
following  words  : 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  in  great  uncertainty  to  trouble  you 
with  this,  and  beg  you  to  accept  apologies.  But  my  hus- 
band is  in  pain  of  the  most  violent  again,  and  none  the 
less  of  misery  that  he  conceals  it  from  me.  In  this 
country  I  have  no  one  now  from  whom  to  seek  good 
counsel,  and  the  young  Dr.  Fox  is  too  juvenile  to  trust  in. 
My  husband  has  so  much  value  for  your  wise  opinion.  I 
therefore  take  the  liberty  of  imploring  you  to  come,  but 
with  discretion  not  to  speak  the  cause  to  Sir  Thomas 
Waldron,  for  he  will  not  permit  conversation  about  it. 
"  Sincerely  yours, 

"  ISABEL  WALDRON." 

Mr.  Penniloe  read  these  words  again,  and  then  closed 
his  eye-glass  with  a  heavy  sigh.  Trusted  and  beloved 
friend  as  he  was  of  the  veteran  Sir  Thomas,  he  had  never 
been  regarded  with  much  favour  by  the  lady  of  the  house. 
By  birth  and  by  blood  on  the  father's  side  this  lady  was 
a  Spaniard ;  and  although  she  spoke  English  fluently — 
much  better,  indeed,  than  she  wrote  it — the  country  and 
people  were  not  to  her  liking,  and  she  cared  not  to  make 
herself  popular.  Hence,  her  fine  qualities  and  generous 
nature  were  misprised  and  undervalued,  until  less  and 
less  was  seen  of  them.  Without  deserving  it,  she  thus 
obtained  the  repute  of  a  haughty,  cold-hearted  person, 


26  TEBLYCKOSS 

without  affection,  sympathy,  or  loving -kindness.  Even 
Mr.  Penniloe,  the  most  charitable  of  men,  was  inclined  to 
hold  this  opinion  of  her. 

Therefore  he  was  all  the  more  alarmed  by  this  letter  of 
the  stately  lady.  Leaving  Mr.  Adney  to  do  his  best,  he 
set  off  at  once  for  Walderscourt  by  way  of  the  plank 
bridge  over  the  Perle,  at  no  great  distance  above  the 
church,  and  then  across  the  meadows  and  the  sloping 
corn-land,  with  the  round  Beacon-hill  in  front  of  him. 
This  path,  saving  nearly  half  a  mile  of  twisting  lanes, 
would  lead  him  to  the  house  almost  as  soon  as  the  mes- 
senger's horse  would  be  there. 

To  any  one  acquainted  with  the  parson  it  would  prove 
how  much  his  mind  was  disturbed  that  none  of  the  fair 
sights  around  him  were  heeded.  The  tall  wheat  reared 
upon  its  jointed  stalk,  with  the  buff  pollen  shed,  and  the 
triple  awns  sheltering  the  infancy  of  grain,  the  delicate 
bells  of  sky-blue  flax  quivering  on  lanced  foliage,  the 
glistening  cones  of  teasels  pliant  yet  as  tasselled  silk,  and 
the  burly  foxglove  in  the  hedge -row  turning  back  its 
spotted  cuffs — at  none  of  these  did  he  care  to  glance,  nor 
linger  for  a  moment  at  the  treddled  stile,  from  which  the 
broad  valley  he  had  left  was  shown,  studded  with  brown 
farm  and  white  cottage,  and  looped  about  with  glittering 
water. 

Neither  did  he  throw  his  stick  into  his  left  hand,  and 
stretch  forth  the  right — as  his  custom  was  in  the  lonely 
walks  of  a  Saturday — to  invigorate  a  hit  he  would  deliver 
the  next  day  at  divine  service  in  the  school-room. 

"  What  is  to  become  of  them  ?  What  can  be  done  to 
help  it  ?  Why  should  such  a  loving  child  have  such  a 
frightful  trial?  How  shall  we  let  him  know  his  danger, 
without  risk  of  doubling  it  ?  How  long  will  it  take  to  get 
Gowler  down,  and  can  he  do  any  good  if  he  comes?" 
These  and  other  such  questions  drove  from  his  mind  both 
sermon  and  scenery  as  he  hastened  to  the  home  of  the 
Waldrons. 

Walderscourt  was  not  so  grand  as  to  look  uncomfort- 
able, nor  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  so  lowly  as  to  seem  in- 
significant. But  a  large,  old-fashioned  house  built  of 
stone,  with  depth  and  variety  of  light  and  shade,  sobered 


NICIE  27 

and  toned  by  the  lapse  of  time,  yet  cheerful  on  the  whole 
as  is  a  well-spent  life.  For  by  reason  of  the  trees,  and  the 
wavering  of  the  air — flowing  gently  from  hill  to  valley — 
the  sun  seemed  to  linger  in  various  visits  rather  than  to 
plant  himself  for  one  long  stare.  The  pleasure-grounds, 
moreover,  and  the  lawns  were  large,  gifted  with  sur- 
prising little  ups  and  downs,  and  blessed  with  pretty  cor- 
ners where  a  man  might  sit  and  think,  and  perhaps  espy 
an  old-fashioned  flower  unseen  since  he  was  five  years 
old. 

Some  of  the  many  philosophers  who  understand  our 
ways,  and  can  account  for  everything,  declare  that  we  of 
the  human  race  become  of  such  and  such -a  vein  and 
turn  and  tone  of  character,  according  to  the  flow  and 
bend  and  tinge  of  early  circumstance.  If  there  be  any 
truth  in  this,  it  will  help  to  account  for  a  few  of  the 
many  delightful  features  and  lovable  traits  in  the  character 
of  Nicie  Waldron.  That  young  lady,  the  only  daughter 
of  the  veteran  colonel,  had  obtained  her  present  Christian 
name  by  her  own  merits,  as  asserted  by  herself.  Unlike 
her  mother,  she  had  taken  kindly  to  this  English  air  and 
soil,  as  behooves  a  native ;  and  her  childish  lips  finding 
Inez  hard  had  softened  it  into  Nicie.  That  name  appeared 
so  apt  to  all  who  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her  toddle 
that  it  quite  superseded  the  grander  form,  with  all  except 
her  mother^  "  Nicie,  indeed !"  Lady  Waldron  used  to 
say,  until  she  found  it  useless  ;  "  I  will  feel  much  obliged 
to  you  if  you  shall  call  my  daughter  Inez  by  her  proper 
name,  sir."  But  her  ladyship  could  no  more  subdue 
the  universal  usage  than  master  the  English  wills  and 
skulls. 

And  though  she  was  now  a  full-grown  maiden,  lively, 
tall,  and  self-possessed,  Nicie  had  not  lost  as  yet  the 
gentle  and  confiding  manner,  with  the  playful  smile,  and 
pleasant  glance,  which  had  earned,  by  offering  them,  good- 
will and  tender  interest.  Pity,  moreover,  had  some  share 
in  her  general  popularity,  inasmuch  as  her  mother  was 
known  to  be  sometimes  harsh,  and  nearly  always  cold 
and  distant  to  her.  Women,  who  should  know  best, 
declared  that  this  was  the  result  of  jealousy,  because 
Sir  Thomas  made  such  an  idol  of  his  loving  daughter. 


28  PERLYCKOSS 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Spanish  lady  had  her  idol  also — 
her  only  son,  despatched  of  late  with  his  regiment 
towards  India ;  his  father  always  called  him  Tom,  and  his 
mother  Rodrigo. 

Mr.  Penniloe  had  a  very  soft  place  in  his  heart  for  this 
young  lady ;  but  now,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  he  was 
vexed  to  see  her  white  chip  hat  and  pink  summer  frock 
between  the  trees.  She  was  sitting  on  a  bench,  with  a 
book  upon  her  lap,  while  the  sunlight,  broken  by  the  gen- 
tle play  of  leafage,  wavered  and  flickered  in  her  rich  brown 
hair.  Corkscrew  ringlets  were  the  fashion  of  the  time ; 
but  Nicie  would  have  none  of  them,  with  the  bashful 
knowledge  of  the  rose,  that  Nature  did  enough  for  her. 

And  here  came  her  father  to  take  her  part  with  his 
usual  decision  ;  daring  even  to  pronounce,  in  presence  of 
the  noblest  fashion,  that  his  pet  should  do  what  he  chose, 
and  nothing  else.  At  this  the  pet  smiled  very  sweetly, 
the  words  being  put  into  his  lips  by  hers,  and  dutifully 
obeyed  her  own  behest,  sweeping  back  the  flowing  curves 
into  a  graceful  coronet  in  the  manner  of  a  Laconian  maid. 

Now  the  sly  Penniloe  made  endeavour  to  pass  her  with  a 
friendly  smile  and  bow,  but  her  little  pug,  Pixie,  would  not 
hear  of  such  a  slight.  This  was  a  thorough  busybody,  not 
always  quite  right  in  his  mind,  according  to  some  good 
authorities,  though  not  easily  outwitted.  Having  scarcely 
attained  much  obesity  yet,  in  spite  of  never-flagging  ef- 
forts, he  could  run  at  a  good  pace,  though  not  so  very  far; 
and  sometimes,  at  sight  of  any  highly  valued  friend,  he 
would  chase  himself  at  full  gallop  round  a  giddy  circle, 
with  his  reasoning  powers  lost  in  rapture. 

Even  now  he  indulged  in  this  expression  of  good-will, 
for  he  dearly  loved  Mr.  Penniloe ;  and  then  he  ran  up  with 
such  antics  of  delight  that  the  rudest  of  mankind  could 
not  well  have  passed  unheeding.  And  behind  him  came 
his  fair  young  mistress,  smiling  pleasantly  at  his  tricks, 
although  her  gentle  eyes  were  glistening  with  a  shower 
scarcely  blown  away. 

"  Uncle  Penniloe,"  she  began,  having  thus  entitled  him 
in  early  days,  and  doing  so  still  at  coaxing  times,  "  you 
will  not  think  me  a  sly  girl,  will  you  ?  But  I  found  out 
that  mother  had  sent  for  you ;  and  as  nothing  would  make 


NICIE  29 

her  tell  me  why,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  come  and  ask  you 
myself,  if  I  could  only  catch  you  here.  I  was  sure  you 
could  never  refuse  me." 

"  Nice  assurance,  indeed,  and  nice  manners,  to  try  to 
steal  a  march  upon  your  mother !"  The  parson  did  his 
utmost  to  look  stern,  but  his  eyes,  meeting  hers,  failed  to 
carry  it  out. 

"  Oh,  but  you  know  better ;  you  could  never  fancy  that ! 
and  your  trying  to  turn  it  off  like  that  only  frightens  me 
ten  times  more.  I  am  sure  it  is  something  about  my  fa- 
ther. You  had  better  tell  me  all — I  must  know  all.  I  am 
too  old  now  to  be  treated  like  a  child.  Who  can  have  half 
the  right  I  have  to  know  all  about  my  darling  dad  ?  Is  he 
very  ill  ?  Is  his  precious  life  in  danger  ?  Don't  look  at 
me  like  that !  I  know  more  than  you  imagine.  Is  he  go- 
ing to  die  ?  I  will  never  believe  it.  God  could  never  do 
such  a  cruel,  wicked  thing  !" 

"  My  dear,  what  would  your  dear  father  say,  to  hear  you 
talk  like  that  ? — a  man  so  humble  and  brave  and  pious — " 

"  As  humble  and  brave  as  you  please,  Uncle  Penniloe ; 
but  I  don't  want  him  to  be  pious  for  a  long  time  yet.  He 
swore  a  little  yesterday — that  is  one  comfort — when  he 
had  no  idea  I  was  near  him.  And  he  would  not  have 
done  that  if  there  had  been  any —  Oh,  don't  go  away  so ! 
I  won't  let  you  go  until  you  have  answered  my  question. 
Why  were  you  sent  for  in  such  haste  ?" 

"  How  can  I  tell  you,  my  dear  child,  until  I  have  had 
time  to  ask  about  it?  You  know  there  is  to  be  the 
cricket  -  match  on  Tuesday,  the  north  against  the  south 
side  of  the  valley,  and  even  the  sides  are  not  quite  settled 
yet ;  because  Mr.  Jakes  will  not  play  against  his  colonel, 
though  quite  ready  to  play  against  his  parson." 

"Will  you  give  me  your  word,  Uncle  Penniloe,  that 
you  really  believe  you  were  sent  for  about  that  ?" 

The  clergyman  saw  that  there  was  no  escape,  and  as  he 
looked  into  her  beseeching  eyes  it  was  all  that  he  could 
do  to  refrain  his  own  from  tears. 

"  I  will  not  cry — or,  at  least,  not  if  I  can  help  it,"  she 
whispered,  as  he  led  her  to  the  seat  and  sat  by  her. 

"  My  darling  Nicie,"  he  began  in  a  low  voice,  and  as 
tenderly  as  if  he  were  her  father,  "  it  has  pleased  the  Lord 


30  PEKLYCROSS 

to  visit  us  with  a  very  sad  trial ;  but  we  may  hope  that  it 
will  yet  pass  away.  Your  dear  father  is  seriously  ill ;  and 
the  worst  of  it  is,  that,  with  his  wonderful  courage  and 
spirit,  he  makes  light  of  it,  and  will  not  be  persuaded. 
He  could  scarcely  be  induced  to  say  a  word  to  Dr.  Fox, 
although  he  is  so  fond  of  him  ;  and  nobody  knows  what 
the  malady  is,  except  that  it  is  painful  and  wearing.  My 
object  to-day  is  to  do  my  very  utmost  to  get  your  dear 
father  to  listen  to  us,  and  see  a  medical  man  of  very  large 
experience  and  very  great  ability.  And  much  as  it  has 
grieved  me  to  tell  you  this,  perhaps  it  is  better,  upon  the 
whole ;  for  now  you  will  do  all  you  can  to  help  us." 

"  Sometimes  father  will  listen  to  me,"  Miss  Waldron 
answered,  between  her  sobs,  "  when  he  won't — when  he 
won't  let  anybody  else — because  I  never  argue  with  him. 
But  I  thought  Dr.  Fox  was  exceedingly  clever." 

"  So  he  is,  my  dear ;  but  he  is  so  young,  and  this  is  a 
case  of  great  perplexity.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  he 
wishes  just  as  we  do.  So  now,  with  God's  help,  let  us  all 
do  our  best." 

She  tried  to  look  cheerful,  but  when  he  was  gone  a  cold 
terror  fell  upon  her.  Little  Pixie  tugged  at  her  frock  un- 
heeded, and  made  himself  a  whirligig  in  chase  of  his  own 
tail. 


CHAPTER   V 
A    FAIR    BARGAIN 

THE  parson  had  a  little  shake  in  his  system ;  and  his 
faith  in  Higher  Providence  was  weaker  in  his  friend's  case 
than  in  his  own,  which  is  contrary,  perhaps,  to  the  general 
rule.  As  he  passed  through  the  large  gloomy  hall,  his  hat 
was  quivering  in  his  hand,  like  a  leaf  that  has  caught  the 
syringe ;  and  when  he  stood  face  to  face  with  Lady  Wal- 
dron,  he  would  have  given  up  a  small  subscription  to  be 
as  calm  as  she  was. 

But  her  self-possession  was  the  style  of  pride  and  habit 
rather  than  the  gift  of  nature.  No  one  could  look  into  her 
very  handsome  face,  or  watch  her  dark  eyes  as  she  spoke, 
without  perceiving  that  her  nature  was  strong  and  warm 
and  generous.  Pride  of  birth  taught  her  to  control  her 
temper,  but  education  had  been  insufficient  to  complete 
the  mastery.  And  so  she  remained  in  a  foreign  country, 
vehement,  prejudiced,  and  indifferent  to  things  too  large 
for  her  to  understand,  jealous,  exacting,  and  quick  to  take 
offence ;  but  at  the  same  time  a  lover  of  justice,  truth- 
ful, free-handed,  and  loyal  to  friends,  kind  to  those  in 
trouble,  and  devoted  to  her  husband.  Her  father  had 
been  of  Spanish  and  her  mother  of  Irish  birth,  and  her 
early  memories  were  of  tumult,  war,  distress,  and  an- 
archy. 

All  English  clergymen  were  to  her  as  heretics  and  usurp- 
ers ;  and  being  intensely  patriotic,  she  disliked  the  Eng- 
lish nation  for  its  services  to  her  country.  Mr.  Penniloe 
had  felt  himself  kept  throughout  at  a  very  well-measured 
distance ;  but,  like  a  large-hearted  and  humble  man,  had 
concerned  himself  little  about  such  trifles,  though  his  wife 
had  been  very  indignant.  And  he  met  the  lady  now,  as 
he  had  always  done,  with  a  pleasant  look  and  a  gentle 


32  PERLYCROSS 

smile.  But  she  was  a  little  annoyed  at  her  own  confession 
of  his  influence. 

"  It  is  good  of  you  to  come  so  soon,"  she  said,  "  and  to 
break  your  very  nice  engagements.  But  I  have  been  so 
anxious,  so  consumed  with  great  anxiety ;  and  everything 
grows  worse  and  worse.  What  can  I  do  ?  There  is  none 
to  help  me.  The  only  one  I  could  trust  entirely,  my  dear 
brother,  is  far  away." 

"  There  are  many  who  would  do  their  best  to  help  you," 
the  curate  answered,  with  a  faltering  voice,  for  her  strange 
humility  surprised  him.  "  You  know  without  any  words 
of  mine — " 

"  Is  it  that  you  really  love  Sir  Thomas,  or  only  that  you 
find  him  useful  ?  Pardon  me ;  I  put  not  the  question 
rudely.  But  all  are  so  selfish  in  this  England." 

"  I  hope  not — I  think  not,"  he  answered,  very  gently, 
having  learned  to  allow  for  the  petulance  of  grief.  "  Your 
dear  husband  is  not  of  that  nature,  Lady  Waldron ;  and 
he  does  not  suppose  that  his  friends  are  so." 

"  No  ;  it  is  true  he  makes  the  best  of  everybody.  Even 
of  that  young  Dr.  Fox,  who  is  ill-treating  him.  That  is 
the  very  thing  I  come  to  speak  of.  If  he  had  a  good 
physician—but  he  is  so  resolute." 

"  But  you  will  persuade  him.  It  is  a  thing  he  owes  to 
you.  And  in  one  little  way  I  can  help  you  perhaps  a  little. 
He  fancies,  I  dare  say,  that  to  call  in  a  man  of  larger  ex- 
perience would  be  unkind  to  Fox,  and  might  even  seem  a 
sort  of  slur  upon  him.  But  I  think  I  can  get  Fox  himself 
to  propose  it,  and  even  to  insist  upon  it  for  his  own  sake. 
I  believe  that  he  has  been  thinking  of  it." 

"  What  is  he,  that  his  opinions  should  be  consulted  ? 
He  cannot  see.  But  I  see  things  that  agitate  me — oh 
darker,  darker — I  cannot  discover  any  consolation  any- 
where. And  my  husband  will  not  hear  a  word !  It  is  so 
— this  reason  one  day,  and  then  some  other,  to  excuse 
that  he  is  not  better ;  and  his  strong  hands  going,  and  his 
shoulders  growing  round,  and  his  great  knees  beginning 
to  quiver,  and  his  face — so  what  you  call  cheerful,  lively, 
jolly,  turning  to  whiter  than  mine,  and  blue  with  cups  and 
cords  and  channels  in  it — oh,  I  will  not  have  my  husband 
long ;  and  where  shall  I  be  without  him  ?" 


A    FAIR    BARGAIN  33 

As  she  turned  away  her  face,  and  waved  her  hand  for 
the  visitor  to  leave  her,  Mr.  Penniloe  discovered  one  more 
reason  for  doubting  his  own  judgment. 

"I  will  go  and  see  him.  He  is  always  glad  to  see  me," 
he  said,  as  if  talking  to  himself  alone.  "  The  hand  of  the 
Lord  is  over  us,  and  His  mercy  is  on  the  righteous." 

The  old  soldier  was  not  the  man  to  stay  in-doors,  or 
dwell  upon  his  ailments.  As  long  as  he  had  leg  to  move, 
or  foot  at  all  to  carry  him,  no  easy-chair  or  study-lounge 
held  any  temptation  for  him.  The  open  air,  and  the 
breezy  fields,  or  sunny  breadth  of  garden  full  of  ever- 
changing  incident,  the  hill-top,  or  the  river-side,  were  his 
delight  while  his  steps  were  strong ;  and  even  now,  when- 
ever bodily  pain  relaxed. 

Mr.  Penniloe  found  him  in  his  kitchen-garden,  walking 
slowly,  as  behooves  a  man  of  large  frame  and  great  stature, 
and  leaning  on  a  staff  of  twisted  Spanish  oak,  which 
had  stood  him  in  good  stead  some  five  -  and  -  twenty 
years  ago.  Following  every  uncertain  step,  with  her  nose 
as  close  as  if  she  had  been  a  spur  upon  either  boot,  and 
yet  escaping  contact  as  a  dog  alone  can  do,  was  his  favour- 
ite little  black  spaniel  Jess,  as  loving  a  creature  as  ever 
lived. 

"  What  makes  you  look  at  me  in  that  way,  Jumps  ?"  the 
colonel  inquired,  while  shaking  hands.  "  I  hope  you  are 
not  setting  up  for  a  doctor,  too.  One  is  quite  enough  for 
the  parish." 

"  Talking  about  doctors,"  replied  the  parson,  who  thought 
it  no  scorn  when  his  old  school-mate  revived  the  nick- 
name of  early  days  (conferred  perhaps  by  some  young 
observer,  in  recognition  of  his  springy  step) — "  talking 
about  doctors,  I  think  very  likely  that  my  old  friend  Gow- 
ler — you  have  heard  me  speak  of  him — will  pay  me  a  little 
visit,  perhaps,  next  week." 

"  Gowler  ?  Was  he  at  Peter's,  after  my  time  ?  It  scarcely 
sounds  like  a  West  country  name.  No;  I  remember  now. 
It  was  at  Oxford  you  fell  in  with  him." 

"  Yes  ;  he  got  his  fellowship  two  years  after  I  got 
mine.  The  cleverest  man  in  the  college,  and  one  of  the 
best  scholars  I  ever  met  with.  I  was  nowhere  with  him, 
though  I  read  so  much  harder." 

2* 


34  PERLYCKOSS 

"Come  now,  Jumps,  don't  tell  me  that!"  Sir  Thomas 
exclaimed,  looking  down  with  admiration  at  the  laureate 
of  his  boyhood ;  "  why,  you  knew  everything  as  pat  as 
butter  when  you  were  no  more  than  a  hop-o'-my-thumb ! 
I  remember  arguing  with  Gus  Brown,  that  it  must  be  be- 
cause you  were  small  enough  to  jump  into  the  skulls  of 
those  old  codgers,  Homer  and  Horace,  and  the  rest  of  them. 
But  how  you  must  have  grown  since  then,  my  friend  !  .  I 
suppose  they  gave  you  more  to  eat  at  Oxford.  But  I  don't 
believe  in  any  man  alive  being  a  finer  scholar  than  you  are." 

"  Gowler  was,  I  tell  you,  Tom  ;  and  many,  many  others  ; 
as  I  soon  discovered  in  the  larger  world.  He  had  a  much 
keener  and  deeper  mind,  far  more  inquiring  and  penetrat- 
ing, more  subtle  and  logical  and  comprehensive,  together 
with  a  smaller  share  perhaps  of — of — " 

"  Humility — that's  the  word  you  mean;  although  you 
don't  like  to  say  it." 

"  No ;  that  is  not  what  I  mean  exactly.  What  I  mean  is 
docility,  ductility,  sequacity — if  there  is  any  such  word. 
The  acceptance  of  what  has  been  discovered,  or  at  any  rate 
acknowledged,  by  the  highest  human  intellect.  Gowler 
would  be  content  with  nothing  because  it  had  satisfied 
the  highest  human  intellect.  It  must  satisfy  his  own,  or 
be  rejected." 

"  I  am  very  sorry  for  him,"  said  Sir  Thomas  Waldron  ; 
"  such  a  man  must  be  drummed  out  of  any  useful  regi- 
ment." 

"  Well,  and  he  was  drummed  out  of  Oxford  ;  or  at  any 
rate  would  follow  no  drum  there.  He  threw  up  his  fel- 
lowship rather  than  take  orders,  and  for  some  years  we 
heard  nothing  of  him.  But  he  was  making  his  way  in 
London,  and  winning  reputation  in  minute  anatomy.  He 
became  the  first  authority  in  what  is  called  histology,  a 
comparatively  new  branch  of  medical  science — " 

"  Don't,  Phil,  I  beg  of  you.  You  make  me  creep.  I 
think  of  Burke  and  Hare  and  all  those  wretches — fellows 
who  disturb  a  man's  last  rest !  I  have  a  deep  respect  for 
an  honest,  wholesome  surgeon ;  and  wonderful  things  I 
have  seen  them  do.  But  the  best  of  them  are  gone.  It 
was  the  war  that  made  them  ;  and,  thank  God,  we  have  no 
occasion  for  such  carvers  now." 


A    FAIR    BARGAIN  35 

"  Come  and  sit  down,  Tom."  You  look — at  least,  I  mean, 
I  have  been  upon  my  legs  many  hours  to-day,  and  there  is 
nothing  like  the  jump  in  them  of  thirty  years  ago.  Well, 
you  are  a  kind  man,  the  kindest  of  the  kind,  to  allow 
your  kitchen-gardeners  such  a  comfortable  bench." 

"You  know  what  I  think,"  replied  Sir  Thomas,  as  he 
made  believe  to  walk  with  great  steadiness  and  vigour, 
"  that  we  don't  behave  half  well  enough  to  those  who  do 
all  the  work  for  us.  And  I  am  quite  sure  that  we  Tories 
feel  it,  aye,  and  try  to  better  it,  ten  times  as  much  as  all 
those  spouting  radical  reformers  do.  Why,  who  is  at  the 
bottom  of  all  these  shocking  riots  and  rick-burnings  ?  The 
man  who  puts  iron  and  boiling  water  to  rob  a  poor  fellow 
of  his  bread  and  bacon.  You'll  see  none  of  that  on  any 
land  of  mine.  But  if  anything  happens  to  me,  who  knows  ?" 

"  My  dear  friend,"  Mr.  Penniloe  began,  while  the  hand 
which  he  laid  upon  his  friend's  was  shaking,  "  may  I  say 
a  word  to  you,  as  an  ancient  chum  ?  You  know  that  I 
would  not  intrude,  I  am  sure." 

"  I  am  sure  that  you  would  not  do  anything  which  a 
gentleman  would  not  do,  Phil." 

"  It  is  simply  this — we  are  most  anxious  about  you. 
You  are  not  in  good  health,  and  you  will  not  confess  it. 
This  is  not  at  all  fair  to  those  who  love  you.  Courage, 
and  carelessness  about  one's  self,  are  very  fine  things,  but 
may  be  carried  too  far.  In  a  case  like  yours  they  are  sin- 
ful, Tom.  Your  life  is  of  very  great  importance,  and  you 
have  no  right  to  neglect  it.  And  can  you  not  see  that  it 
is  downright  cruelty  to  your  wife  and  children  if  you 
allow  yourself  to  get  worse  and  worse,  while  their  anxiety 
increases,  and  you  do  nothing,  and  won't  listen  to  advice, 
and  fling  bottles  of  medicine  into  the  bonfire  ?  I  saw  one 
just  now  as  we  came  down  the  walk — as  full  as  when  Fox 
put  the  cork  in.  Is  that  even  fair  to  a  young  practitioner?" 

"  Well,  I  never  thought  of  that.  That's  a  new  light  al- 
together. You  can  see  well  enough,  it  seems,  when  it  is 
not  wanted.  But  don't  tell  Jemmy  about  that  bottle. 
Mind,  you  are  upon  your  honour.  But  oh,  Phil,  if  you 
only  knew  the  taste  of  that  stuff !  I  give  you  my 
word — " 

"  You  shall  not  laugh  it  off.     You  may  say  what  you 


36  PERLYCROSS 

like,  but  you  know  in  your  heart  that  you  are  not  acting 
kindly,  or  even  fairly,  by  us.  Would  you  like  your  wife 
or  daughter  to  feel  seriously  ill  and  hide  it  as  if  it  was 
no  concern  of  yours  ?  I  put  aside  higher  considerations, 
Tom.  I  speak  to  you  simply  as  an  old  and  true  friend." 

It  was  not  the  power  of  his  words  so  much  as  the 
trembling  of  his  voice  and  the  softness  of  his  eyes  that 
vanquished  the  tough  old  soldier. 

"  I  don't  want  to  make  any  fuss  about  it,  Phil,"  Sir 
Thomas  answered,  quietly  ;  "  and  I  would  rather  have  kept 
it  to  myself  a  little  longer.  But  the  simple  truth  is  that 
I  am  dying." 

There  was  no  sign  of  fear  or  of  sorrow  in  his  gaze ; 
and  he  smiled  very  cheerfully  while  offering  his  hand,  as 
if  to  be  forgiven  for  the  past  concealment.  Mr.  Penniloe 
could  not  speak,  but  fell  back  on  the  bench  and  feared  to 
look  at  him. 

"  My  dear  friend,  I  see  that  I  was  wrong  to  tell  you," 
the  sick  man  continued,  in  a  feebler  tone ;  "  but  you  must 
have  found  it  out  very  shortly ;  and  I  know  that  Jemmy 
Fox  is  well  aware  of  it.  But  not  a  word,  of  course,  to  my 
wife  or  daughter,  until — until  it  can't  be  helped.  Poor 
things — what  a  blow  it  will  be  to  them !  The  thought  of 
that  makes  me  rebel  sometimes.  But  it  is  in  your  power  to 
help  me  greatly — to  help  me  as  no  other  man  on  earth  can 
do.  It  has  long  been  in  my  thoughts,  but  I  scarcely 
dared  to  ask  you.  Perhaps  that  was  partly  why  I  told 
you  this.  But  you  are  too  good  and  kind  to  call  me 
selfish." 

"  Whatever  it  is,  I  will  do  it  for  you  readily,  if  God 
gives  me  power  and  ordains  it  so." 

"  Never  make  rash  promises.  What  was  it  you  used  to 
construe  to  me  in  the  Delectus  ?  This  is  a  long  and 
troublesome  job,  and  will  place  you  in  a  delicate  position. 
It  is  no  less  a  trouble  than  to  undertake  for  a  time,  at 
least,  the  management  of  my  affairs,  and  see  to  the  inter- 
ests of  my  Nicie." 

"  But  surely  your  wife — surely  Lady  Waldron — so  res- 
olute, ready,  and  capable — " 

"  Yes,  she  is  all  that,  and  a  great  deal  more — honourable, 
upright,  warm,  and  loving.  She  is  not  at  all  valued  as 


A    FAIR    BARGAIN  37 

she  should  be  here,  because  she  cannot  come  to  like  our 
country  or  our  people.  But  that  would  be  no  obstacle ; 
the  obstacle  is  this:  she  has  a  twin  -  brother,  a  certain 
Count  de  Varcas,  whom  she  loves  ardently,  and  I  will  not 
speak  against  him  ;  but  he  must  have  no  chance  of  inter- 
fering here.  My  son  Tom — Rodrigo  his  mother  calls  him, 
after  her  beloved  brother — is  barely  of  age,  as  you  know, 
and  sent  off  with  his  regiment  to  India ;  a  very  fine  fellow 
in  many  ways,  but  as  for  business — excuse  me  a  moment, 
Phil ;  I  will  finish  when  this  is  over." 

With  one  broad  hand  upon  the  bench  he  contrived  to 
rise,  and  to  steady  himself  upon  his  staff,  and  stood  for  a 
little  while  thus,  with  his  head  thrown  back,  and  his  fore- 
head like  a  block  of  stone.  No  groan  from  the  chest,  or 
contortion  of  the  face  was  allowed  to  show  his  agony  ; 
though  every  drawn  muscle  and  wan  hollow  told  what  he 
was  enduring.  And  the  blue  scar  of  some  ancient  wound 
grew  vivid  upon  his  strong  countenance,  from  the  left 
cheek-bone  to  the  corner  of  the  mouth,  with  the  pallid 
damp  on  either  side.  Little  Jess  came  and  watched  him 
with  wistful  eyes  and  a  soft  interrogative  tremble  of  tail, 
while  the  clergyman  rose  to  support  him ;  but  he  would 
have  no  assistance. 

"  Thank  God,  it  is  over !  I  am  all  right  now,  for  an- 
other three  hours,  I  dare  say.  What  a  coward  you  must 
think  me,  Phil !  I  have  been  through  a  good  deal  of  pain 
in  my  time.  But  this  beats  me,  I  must  confess.  The 
worst  of  it  is,  when  it  comes  at  night,  to  keep  it  from 
poor  Isabel.  Sit  down  again  now,  and  let  me  go  on  with 
my  story." 

"  Not  now,  Tom.  Not  just  yet,  I  implore  you,"  cried 
the  parson,  himself  more  overcome  than  the  sufferer  of 
all  that  anguish.  "  Wait  till  you  find  yourself  a  little 
stronger." 

"  No ;  that  may  never  be.  If  ypu  could  only  know 
the  relief  it  will  be  to  me.  I  have  not  a  great  mind.  I 
cannot  leave  things  to  the  Lord  except  as  concerns  my 
own  self.  Now  that  I  have  broken  the  matter  to  you,  I 
must  go  through  with  it.  I  cannot  die  until  my  mind  is 
easy  about  poor  Nicie.  Her  mother  would  be  good  to 
her,  of  course.  But — well,  Tom  is  her  idol ;  and  there  is 


38  PERLYCROSS 

that  blessed  count.  Tom  is  very  simple,  just  as  I  was  at 
his  age.  I  have  many  old  friends ;  but  all  easy-going  fel- 
lows, who  would  leave  everything  to  their  lawyers — none 
at  all  to  trust  like  you.  And  I  know  how  fond  you  are 
of  Nicie." 

"To  be  sure  I  am.  How  could  I  help  it?  But  remem- 
ber that  I  am  not  at  all  a  man  of  business." 

"  What  does  that  matter  ?  You  are  very  clear-headed 
and  prudent — at  any  rate  for  other  people.  And  you  will 
have  Webber,  a  careful  and  clever  solicitor,  to  back  you 
up.  And  mind,  I  am  not  asking  you  to  supersede  my 
wife,  or  take  what  should  be  her  position.  She  is  quite 
unacquainted  with  English  ways,  she  does  not  think  as  an 
Englishwoman  would.  She  must  have  an  Englishman  to 
act  with  her,  in  the  trusts  that  will  arise  upon  my  death ; 
and  when  we  were  married  in  Spain,  as  you  know,  there 
was  no  chance  of  any  marriage-settlement.  In  fact,  there 
was  nothing  to  settle  as  yet,  for  I  was  not  even  heir  to  this 
property  until  poor  Jack  was  killed  at  Quatre  Bras.  And 
as  for  herself,  all  the  family  affairs  were  at  sixes  and  sev- 
ens, as  you  may  suppose,  during  the  French  occupation. 
Her  father  had  been  a  very  wealthy  man,  and  the  head  of 
an  ancient  race  which  claimed  descent  from  the  old  Car- 
thaginian Barcas,  of  whom  you  know  more  than  I  do.  But 
he  had  been  too  patriotic,  and  advanced  immense  sums  to 
the  State  without  security,  and  in  other  ways  dipped  his 
fine  property,  so  that  it  would  not  recover  for  a  generation. 
At  any  rate  nothing  came  to  her  then,  though  she  ought 
to  have  had  a  good  sum  afterwards.  But  whatever  there 
may  have  been,  her  noble  twin -brother  took  good  care 
that  none  of  it  came  this  way.  And  I  was  glad  to  get 
her  without  a  peseta;  and  what  is  more,  I  have  never  re- 
pented of  it ;  for  a  nobler  and  more  affectionate  woman 
never  trod  the  earth." 

As  the  sick  man  passed  his  hand  before  his  eyes,  in  sad 
recollection  of  the  by-gone  bliss,  Mr.  Penniloe  thought  of 
his  own  dear  wife — a  far  sweeter  woman  in  his  mild  opin- 
ion ;  and,  if  less  noble,  none  the  worse  for  that. 

"  But  the  point  of  it  is  this,  Tom,"  the  clergyman  said, 
firmly,  for  he  began  to  feel  already  like  a  man  of  business, 
however  sad  and  mournful  the  business  must  become ; 


A    FAIR    BARGAIN  39 

"  does  Lady  Waldron  consent  to  receive  me,  as — as  co- 
trustee,  or  whatever  it  is  called,  if — if — which  God  forbid 
— it  should  ever  prove  to  be  necessary  ?" 

"  My  dear  friend,  I  spoke  to  her  about  it  yesterday,  in 
such  a  way  as  not  to  cause  anxiety  or  alarm ;  and  she 
made  no  objection,  but  left  everything  to  me ;  so  you 
have  only  to  agree  and  all  is  settled." 

"  In  that  case,  Tom,"  said  Mr.  Penniloe,  arising,  and 
offering  both  hands  to  his  friend,  "  I  will  not  shirk  my 
duty  to  a  man  I  love  so  much.  May  the  Lord  be  with 
me,  for  I  am  not  a  man  of  business — or,  at  least,  I  have 
not  attained  that  reputation  yet !  But  I  will  do  my  best,  and 
your  Nicie's  interests  shall  be  as  sacred  to  me  as  my  own 
child's.  Is  there  anything  you  would  like  to  say  about  her?" 

"  Yes,  Phil,  one  thing  most  important.  She  is  a  loving 
creature  ;  and  I  trust  that  she  will  marry  a  good  man  who 
will  value  her.  I  have  fancied,  more  than  once,  that 
Jemmy  Fox  is  very  fond  of  her.  He  is  a  manly,  straight^ 
forward  fellow,  and  of  a  very  good  old  family,  quite  equal 
to  ours  so  far  as  that  goes.  He  has  not  much  of  this 
world's  goods  at  present,  and  her  mother  would  naturally 
look  higher.  But  when  a  man  is  in  my  condition  he 
takes  truer  views  of  life.  If  Jemmy  loves  her,  and  she 
comes  to  love  him,  I  believe  that  they  would  have  a  very 
happy  life.  He  is  very  cheerful,  and  of  the  sweetest 
temper — the  first  of  all  things  in  married  life — and  he  is 
as  upright  as  yourself.  In  a  few  years  he  will  be  very 
well  off.  I  could  wish  no  better  fortune  for  her — suppos- 
ing that  she  gives  her  heart  to  him." 

"  He  is  a  great  favourite  of  mine  as  well,"  the  curate 
replied,  though  surprised  not  a  little.  "But  as  I  have 
agreed  to  all  that  you  wish,  Tom,  you  must  yield  a  little 
to  my  most  earnest  wish,  and  at  the  same  time  discharge 
a  simple  duty.  I  cannot  help  hoping  that  your  fears — or  I 
will  not  call  them  that,  for  you  fear  nothing — but  your  views 
of  your  own  case  are  all  wrong.  You  must  promise  to  take 
the  highest  medical  opinion.  If  I  bring  Gowler  over,  with 
Fox's  full  approval,  will  you  allow  him  to  examine  you?" 

"  You  are  too  bad,  Phil.  But  you  have  caught  me  there. 
If  you  let  me  put  you  into  the  hands  of  lawyers,  it  is  tit 
for  tat  that  you  should  drive  me  into  those  of  doctors." 


CHAPTER    VI 

DOCTORS     THREE 

PUBLIC  opinion  at  Perlycross  was  stirred,  as  with  a 
many  -  bladed  egg -whisk,  by  the  sudden  arrival  of  Dr. 
Gowler.  A  man  who  cared  nothing  about  the  crops,  and 
never  touched  bacon  or  clotted  cream,  nor  even  replied 
to  the  salutation  of  the  largest  farmer,  but  glided  along 
with  his  eyes  on  the  ground,  and  a  broad  hat  whelmed 
down  upon  his  hairless  white  face ;  yet  seemed  to  know 
every  lane  and  foot-path  as  if  he  had  been  born  among 
them  —  no  wonder  that,  in  that  unsettled  time,  when 
frightful  tales  hung  about  the  eaves  of  every  cottage,  and 
every  leathern  latch-thong  was  drawn  inside  at  nightfall, 
very  strange  suspicions  were  in  the  air  about  him.  Even 
the  friendship  of  the  well-beloved  parson,  and  the  frank  ad- 
miration of  Dr.  Fox,  could  not  stem  the  current  against  him. 
The  children  of  the  village  ran  away  at  his  shadow,  and  the 
mothers  in  the  doorway  turned  their  babies'  faces  from  him. 

Every  one  who  loved  Sir  Thomas  Waldron,  and  that 
meant  everybody  in  the  parish,  shuddered  at  hearing  that 
this  strange  man  had  paid  two  visits  at  Walderscourt,  and 
had  even  remained  there  a  great  part  of  one  night.  And 
when  it  was  known  that  the  yearly  cricket-match,  between 
the  north  side  of  the  Perle  and  the  south,  had  been 
quenched  by  this  doctor's  stern  decree,  the  wrath  of  the 
younger  men  was  rebuked  by  the  sorrow  of  the  elder. 
Jakes  the  school-master,  that  veteran  sergeant  (known  as 
"  High  Jarks,"  from  the  lofty  flourish  of  his  one  remaining 
arm,  and  thus  distinct  from  his  younger  brother,  "Low 
Jarks,"  a  good  but  not  extraordinary  butcher),  firm  as  he 
was,  and  inured  to  fields  of  death,  found  himself  unable  to 
refuse  his  iron  cheeks  the  drop  that  he  was  better  fitted  to 
produce  on  others. 


DOCTORS    THKEE  41 

Now  that  brave  descendant  of  Mars  and  Minerva  feared 
one  thing,  and  one  alone,  in  all  this  wicked  world ;  and 
that  was  holy  wedlock.  It  was  rumoured  that  something 
had  befallen  him  in  Spain,  or  some  other  foreign  out- 
lands,  of  a  nature  to  make  a  good  Christian  doubt  wheth- 
er woman  was  meant  as  a  helpmate  for  him  under  the 
New  Covenant.  The  sergeant  was  not  given  to  much 
talking,  but  rigid  and  resolute  and  self-contained;  more 
apt  to  point  and  be  the  moral  of  his  vast  experience  than 
to  adorn  it  with  long  tales.  Many  people  said  that  hav- 
ing heard  so  much  of  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the  roll  of 
drums,  he  could  never  come  to  care  again  for  any  toast- 
and-butter ;  while  others  believed  that  he  felt  it  his  duty 
to  maintain  the  stern  silence  which  he  imposed  in  school. 

There  was,  however,  one  person  in  the  parish  with 
whom  he  indulged  in  brief  colloquy  sometimes ;  and, 
strange  to  say,  that  was  a  woman.  Mrs.  Muggridge,  the 
curate's  house -keeper,  felt  more  indignation  than  she 
could  express  if  anybody  whispered  that  she  was  fond  of 
gossip.  But,  according  to  her  own  account,  she  smiled  at 
such  a  charge,  coming  as  it  only  could  from  the  lowest 
quarters,  because  she  was  bound  for  her  master's  sake  to 
have  some  acquaintance  with  her  neighbours'  doings  ;  for 
they  found  it  too  easy  to  impose  on  him.  And  too  often 
little  Fay  would  run  with  the  best  part  of  his  dinner  to 
some  widow,  mourning  deeply  over  an  empty  pot  of  beer. 
For  that  mighty  police  force  of  charity,  the  district  visitors, 
were  not  established  then. 

Thyatira,  though  not  perhaps  unduly  nervous — for  the 
times  were  sadly  out  of  joint  —  was  lacking  to  some  ex- 
tent in  that  very  quality  which  the  sergeant  possessed  in 
such  remarkable  degree.  And  ever  since  that  shocking 
day  when  her  dear  mistress  had  been  brought  home  from 
the  cliff  stone-dead,  the  house -keeper  had  realized  the 
perils  of  this  life  even  more  deeply  than  its  daily  bless- 
ings. Susanna,  the  maid,  was  of  a  very  timid  nature,  and 
when  piously  rebuked  for  her  want  of  faith  in  Providence, 
had  a  knack  of  justifying  her  distrust  by  a  course  of  very 
creepy  narratives.  Mrs.  Muggridge  would  sternly  com- 
mand her  to  leave  off,  and  yet  contrive  to  extract  every 
horror  down  to  its  dying  whisper. 


42  PEKLYCEOSS 

Moreover,  the  rectory,  a  long  and  rambling  house,  was 
not  a  cheerful  place  to  sit  alone  in  after  dark.  Although 
the  high  and  whitewashed  back  abutted  on  the  village 
street,  there  was  no  door  there,  and  no  window  looking 
outward  in  the  basement;  and  the  walls  being  very  thick, 
you  might  almost  as  well  be  fifty  miles  from  any  com- 
pany. Worst  of  all,  and  even  cruel  on  the  ancient  build- 
er's part,  the  only  access  to  the  kitchen  and  the  rooms 
adjoining  it,  was  through  a  narrow  and  dark  passage, 
arched  with  rough  flints  set  in  mortar,  which  ran  like  a 
tunnel  beneath  the  first-floor  rooms,  from  one  end  of  the 
building  to  the  other.  The  front  of  the  house  was  on  a 
higher  level,  facing  southward  upon  a  grass -plat  and 
flower-garden,  and  as  pretty  as  the  back  was  ugly. 

Even  the  stoutest  heart  in  Perlycross  might  flutter  a 
little  in  the  groping  process,  for  the  tunnel  was  pitch-dark 
at  night  before  emerging  into  the  candlelight  twinkling 
in  the  paved  yard  beside  the  kitchen  door.  While  the 
servants  themselves  would  have  thought  it  a  crime,  if  the 
butcher  or  baker,  or  any  one  coming  for  them  (ex- 
cept the  postman),  had  kept  the  front  way  up  the  open 
gravel  walk,  and  ventured  to  knock  at  the  front  door 
itself.  There  was  no  bell  outside  to  call  them,  and  the 
green-baize  door  at  the  end  of  the  passage,  leading  to  the 
kitchen  stairs,  deadened  the  sound  of  the  knocker  so 
much  that  sometimes  a  visitor  might  thunder  away  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  with  intervals  for  conscientious  study 
of  his  own  temper,  unless  little  Fay's  quick  ears  were 
reached,  and  her  pink  little  palms  and  chest  began  to 
struggle  with  the  mighty  knob. 

So  it  happened,  one  evening  in  the  first  week  of  August, 
when  Mr.  Penniloe  was  engaged  in  a  distant  part  of  the 
parish,  somebody  or  other  came  and  knocked  —  it  was 
never  known  how  many  times  or  how  long — at  the  upper- 
folk  door  of  the  rectory. 

There  was  not  any  deafness  about  Thyatira,  and  as  for 
Susanna,  she  could  hear  too  much  ;  neither  was  little  Fay 
to  blame,  although  the  rest  were  rather  fond  of  leaving 
things  to  her.  If  the  pupils  had  returned  it  could  not 
have  happened  so ;  for  although  they  made  quite  enough 
noise  of  their  own  in  the  little  back  parlour  allotted  to 


DOCTORS    THREE  43 

them,  they  never  failed  to  hear  any  other  person's  noise, 
and  to  complain  of  it  next  morning  when  they  did  not 
know  their  lessons. 

But  the  present  case  was,  that  the  whole  live  force  of 
the  rectory,  now  on  the  premises,  was  established  quite 
happily  in  the  kitchen  yard,  with  a  high  wall  between  it 
and  the  village  street,  and  a  higher  wall  topped  with  shrubs 
between  it  and  the  garden.  Master  Harry,  now  at  home 
for  his  holidays  (a  tiger  by  day,  but  a  lion  at  night,  for 
protection  of  the  household),  was  away  with  his  father, 
and  sleeping  soundly  through  a  Bible-lecture.  And  so  it 
came  to  pass  that  the  tall  dark  man  knocked,  and  knocked  ; 
and  at  last  departed,  muttering  uncourteous  expressions 
through  his  beard. 

Even  that  might  never  have  been  known  inside  without 
the  good  offices  of  Mrs.  Channing,  the  wife  of  the  baker, 
whose  premises  adjoined  the  rectory  garden  and  the 
drive  from  the  front  gate. 

"  'Twas  nort  but  them  Gelany  fowls,"  she  explained, 
before  she  had  her  breakfast,  because  her  husband  was  the 
son  of  old  Channing,  the  clerk  and  sexton  ;  "  them  Gelany 
birds  of  ours  as  drew  my  notice  to  it.  They  kept  up 
such  a  screeching  in  the  big  linhay  just  at  dusk  instead  of 
sticking  their  heads  inside  their  wings  that  I  thought  they 
must  be  worriting  about  a  dog  or  cat.  And  so  out  of 
house  I  runs ;  but  I  couldn't  see  nort,  till  I  heers  a  girt 
knocking  at  passon's  front  door.  Thinks  I,  *  What's  up 
now  ?'  For  I  knowed  a'  wurn't  at  home,  but  away  to  they 
Bible -readings.  So  I  claps  the  little  barn -steps  again 
your  big  wall  and  takes  the  liberty  of  peeping  over,  just 
between  the  lalac  bush  and  old  holly.  You  must  under- 
stand, Mrs.  Muggridge,  that  the  light  wurn't  very  clear ; 
but  I  could  make  out  a  big  tall  man  a-standing,  with  a  long 
furrin  cloak,  atwixt  the  pillars  of  your  porch. 

" '  Passon's  not  at  home,'  says  I ;  *  can  I  give  any 
message  ?' 

"  Then  a'  turns  round  sudden  like,  and  stands  just  like 
a  pictur',  with  the  postesses  to  either  side  of  him,  and  his 
beard  falling  down  the  same  as  Aaron's.  But  if  a'  said 
ort,  'twur  beyond  my  comprehension. 

" '  Did  you  please  to  be  looking  for  the  doctor,  sir  ?' 


44  PEELYCEOSS 

I  said — <  the  doctor  as  is  'biding  now  with  Mr.  Penniloe  ? 
I  did  hear  that  he  was  gone  to  Squire  Waldron's  house.' 
For  I  thought  that  he  was  more  the  sort  to  belong  to  that 
old  Gowler. 

"  But  he  only  shook  his  head  and  turned  away ;  and 
presently  off  he  walks  most  majestic,  like  the  image  of  a 
man  the  same  as  I  have  seen  to  Exeter.  I  felt  myself  in 
that  alarm  that  go  away  I  couldn't  until  I  heard  your  gate 
fall  to  behind  him.  Then  I  thought  to  come  and  tell  you, 
but  L  hadn't  got  the  nerves  to  face  your  black  passage 
after  what  had  come  across  me.  For  to  my  mind  it  must 
have  been  the  evil  one  himself.  May  the  Lord  save  us 
from  his  roarings  and  devourings  !" 

When  Mrs.  Muggridge  heard  this  tale  she  thought  that 
it  had  better  go  no  further,  and  she  saw  no  occasion  to 
repeat  it  to  her  master;  because  no  message  had  been 
left,  and  he  might  imagine  that  she  had  not  attended  to 
her  duty  very  well. 

For  it  had  chanced  that  at  the  very  moment  when  some- 
body wanted  to  disturb  them,  the  house-keeper  was  giving 
a  most  pleasant  tea-party  to  the  two  little  dears,  Master 
Michael  and  Miss  Fay. 

And  by  accident,  of  course,  Sergeant  Jakes  had  just 
dropped  in.  No  black  passage  could  be  anything  but  a 
joke  to  a  man  of  his  valour,  and  no  rapping  at  the  door 
could  have  passed  unchallenged  if  it  reached  such  ears. 
But  the  hospitable  Thyatira  offered  such  a  distraction  of 
good  things,  far  beyond  the  largest  larder-dreams  of  a 
dry-tongued  lonely  bachelor,  that  the  coarser  and  seldom 
desirable  gift  of  the  ears  lay  in  deep  abeyance.  For  the 
sergeant  had  felt  quite  enough  of  hardship  to  know  a  good 
time  when  he  tasted  it. 

"  Now,  my  precious  little  dears,"  Thyatira  had  whispered, 
with  a  sigh,  when  the  veteran  would  be  helped  no  more, 
"  there  is  light  enough  still  for  a  game  of  hop-scotch  down 
at  the  bottom  of  the  yard.  Susanna  will  mark  out  the 
bed  for  you.  You  will  find  the  chalk  under  the  knife- 
board." 

Away  ran  the  children,  and  their  merry  voices  rang 
sweetly  to  the  dancing  of  their  golden  hair. 

"  Sergeant  schoolmaster,"  continued  the  lady,  for  she 


DOCTORS   THKEE  45 

knew  that  he  liked  this  combination  of  honours,  "how 
pleasant  it  is  when  the  shadows  are  falling  to  see  the 
little  innocents  delighting  in  their  games !  It  seems  to  be 
no  more  than  yesterday  when  I  was  as  full  of  play  as  any 
of  them." 

"  A  good  many  yesterdays  have  passed  since  that,"  Mr. 
Jakes  thought,  as  he  looked  at  her ;  but  he  was  far  too 
gallant  and  polite  to  say  so.  "  In  your  case,  ma'am,  it  is 
so,"  he  replied ;  "  yesterday,  only  yesterday !  The  last 
time  I  was  here,  1  was  saying  to  myself  that  you  ladies 
have  the  command  of  time.  You  make  it  pass  for  us  so 
quickly,  while  it  is  standing  still  with  you !" 

"What  a  fine  thing  it  is  to  have  been  abroad !  You  do 
learn  such  things  from  the  gift  of  tongues.  But  it  do 
seem  a  pity  you  should  have  to  say  them  so  much  to 
yourself,  Mr.  Sergeant." 

"  Ma'am,"  replied  the  veteran,  in  some  fear  of  becoming 
too  complimentary;  "I  take  it  that  some  of  us  are  meant 
to  live  apart,  and  to  work  for  the  good  of  others.  But 
have  you  heard  how  the  colonel  is  to-day  ?  Ah,  he  is  a 
man,  indeed !" 

"  There  are  doctors  enough  to  kill  him  now.  And  they 
are  going  to  do  it,  this  very  night."  Mrs.  Muggridge  spoke 
rather  sharply,  for  she  was  a  little  put  out  with  her  visitor. 

"What?"  cried  the  man  of  sword  and  ferule.  "To 
operate,  ma'am,  and  I  not  there — I,  who  know  all  about 
operations !" 

"  No,  Mr.  Sergeant ;  but  to  hold  a  council.  And  in  this 
very  house,  I  believe  ;  the  room  is  to  be  ready  at  ten 
o'clock.  Dr.  Fox,  Dr.  Gronow,  and  Dr.  Gowler.  It  is 
more  than  I  can  understand.  But  not  a  word  about  it 
to  any  one,  for  Sir  Thomas  would  be  very  angry.  To 
frighten  his  people  and  make  such  a  fuss — they  durst 
not  propose  it  at  his  own  house.  And  Gronow  has  never 
been  called  in,  as  you  know.  But  Dr.  Jemmy  made  a 
favour  of  it,  for  he  thinks  very  highly  of  that  man  ;  and 
the  gentleman  from  London  did  not  object.  Only  he  said 
that  if  it  must  be  so,  and  everything  was  to  be  out  of 
proper  form,  he  would  like  my  master  to  be  present  with 
them." 

"  Three  doctors  and  a  parson  to  sit  upon  him !     The 


46  PERLYCEOSS 

Lord  have  mercy  on  the  colonel's  soul !  There  is  no  hope 
left  for  his  poor  body.  I  will  tell  you,  ma'am,  what  I  saw 
once  at  Turry  Vardoes — but  no,  it  is  not  fit  for  you  to 
hear.  Well,  my  heart  is  like  a  lump  of  lead.  I  would 
sooner  have  lost  my  other  arm  than  heard  such  a  thing  of 
the  colonel.  Good-night,  ma'am  ;  and  thanking  you  for  all 
your  kindness,  I'm  no  fit  company  for  any  one  no  longer." 

lie  was  gone  in  a  moment.  His  many-angled  form  sank 
into  the  darkness  of  the  flinty  tunnel  as  swiftly  as  ever  a 
school-boy  vanished,  when  that  form  became  too  conspicu- 
ous. Thyatira  heaved  a  deep  sigh,  and  sat  down  in  the 
many-railed  beechen  chair  at  the  head  of  her  cruelly  vacant 
table.  She  began  to  count  the  empty  dishes,  and  with  less 
than  her  usual  charity  mused  upon  the  voracity  of  man. 
But  her  heart  was  kind,  and  the  tear  she  wiped  away  was 
not  wholly  of  selfish  tincture. 

"  The  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  us  now.  My  master 
will  lose  the  best  friend  he  has  got,"  she  was  thinking,  as 
the  darkness  gathered ;  "  faithful  as  he  is,  it  will  try  him 
hard  again  ;  for  Satan  has  prevailed  against  us ;  and  this 
will  be  a  worse  snare  than  any  he  has  laid.  To  have  in  par- 
sonage house  a  man  as  chooseth  not  to  come  to  prayers  ; 
or,  at  any  rate,  standeth  up  at  mantel -piece,  with  his 
back  turned  on  the  kneelers,  till  my  master  told  him,  like 
the  Christian  he  is,  that  he  would  not  desire  him,  as 
his  guest,  to  go  contrary  to  his  principles  —  and  pretty 
principles  they  must  be,  I  reckon — but  would  beg  him  to 
walk  in  the  garden  rather  than  set  such  example  to  his 
household  !  Alas,  the  day  that  such  a  man  came  here,  to 
the  house  of  a  holy  minister !  No  blessing  can  ever  at- 
tend his  medicine.  Ah,  the  times  are  not  as  they  was ! 
No  wonder  that  Spring-heeled  Jack  is  allowed  to  carry 
on  when  such  a  heathen  is  encouraged  in  the  land.  It 
would  not  go  out  of  my  grains  if  he  was  Spring-heeled 
Jack  himself  !" 

Much  against  her  liking,  and  with  a  trembling  hand, 
this  excellent  woman  brought  in  the  candles,  and  prepared 
the  sitting-room  for  the  consultation  of  unholy  science. 

But  the  first  to  arrive  was  a  favourite  of  hers,  and,  in- 
deed, of  all  the  parish — a  young  man  of  very  cheerful 
aspect,  and  of  brisk  and  ready  speech.  No  man  had  ever 


DOCTORS   THREE  47 

known  Jemmy  Fox  despair  of  anything  he  undertook; 
and  there  were  few  things  he  would  not  undertake  ;  only 
he  must  tackle  them  in  his  own  way.  A  square-built, 
thick-set,  resolute  young  fellow,  of  no  great  stature,  but 
good  frame  and  fibre,  and  as  nimble  as  a  pea  in  a  frying- 
pan.  There  was  nothing  very  wonderful  about  his  face, 
and  at  first  sight  a  woman  would  have  called  him  plain, 
for  his  nose  was  too  short,  and  his  chin  too  square,  and 
his  mouth  too  wide  for  elegance.  But  the  more  he  was 
looked  at  the  better  he  was  liked  by  any  honest  person ; 
for  he  was  never  on  the  watch  for  fault  in  others  as 
haters  of  humbug  are  too  apt  to  be. 

And  yet,  without  intending  or  knowing  it  at  all,  this 
son  of  Chiron  had  given  deep  offence  to  many  of  his 
brethren  around  Perlycross,  and  it  told  upon  him  sadly 
afterwards,  for  he  loved  his  profession,  and  looked  upon 
it  as  the  highest  and  noblest  in  the  world,  and  had  worked 
at  it  too  thoroughly  not  to  have  learned  how  often  it  is 
mere  profession.  By  choice  he  would  have  dropped  all 
general  practice,  and  become  a  surgeon  only  ;  but  this  was 
impossible  except  in  some  large  place,  and  cities  were  not 
to  his  liking.  As  the  only  son  of  a  wealthy  banker  he 
might  have  led  an  idle  life  if  he  pleased  ;  but  that  he 
could  not  bear,  and  resolved  to  keep  himself  ;  for  the  old 
man  was  often  too  exacting,  and  the  younger  had  some 
little  income  of  his  own.  Perlycross  suited  him  well,  and 
he  had  taken  a  long  and  rambling  house,  which  had  for- 
merly been  a  barn,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  village. 

"  Seen  anything  of  Spring-heeled  Jack  the  last  night 
or  two,  Mrs.  Muggridge  ?"  he  inquired  too  lightly,  as  he 
flung  down  his  hat  in  similar  style  at  a  corner.  "  Have 
you  heard  the  last  thing  that  has  come  to  light  about 
him  ?" 

"  No,  sir  ;  no  !  But  I  hope  it  is  no  harm,"  replied  the 
palpitating  Thyatira. 

"  Well,  that  depends  upon  how  you  take  it.  We  have 
discovered  for  certain  that  he  is  a  medical  man  from  a 
country  parish,  not  such  a  very  long  way  from  here,  who 
found  his  practice  too  small  for  the  slaughter  on  the 
wholesale  style  he  delights  in.  And  so  he  turned  his  in- 
struments into  patent  jumpers,  tore  the  heart  out  of  his 


48  PEKLYCEOSS 

last  patient — he  was  obliged  to  choose  a  poor  one,  or  it 
would  have  been  too  small — and  then  he  fitted  a  Bude- 
light  to  his  biggest  dark-lantern.  And  you  know  better 
than  I  do  what  he  shows  you  at  the  window,  exactly  as 
the  church-clock  strikes  twelve." 

"  Oh,  Dr.  Jemmy,  how  you  do  make  one  creep  !  Then, 
after  all,  he  is  not,  as  everybody  says,  even  a  dissolute 
nobleman  ?" 

"  No  ;  that  is  where  the  disappointment  lies.  He  set 
that  story  afoot,  no  doubt,  to  comfort  the  relatives  of 
the  folk  he  kills.  By -the -bye,  what  a  place  this  old 
house  would  be  for  him  !  He  likes  a  broad  window- 
sill,  just  like  yours,  and  the  weather  is  the  very  thing 
for  him." 

"  I  shall  nail  up  a  green  baize  every  night.  Oh,  Dr. 
Jemmy,  there  is  a  knock  at  the  door  !  Would  you  mind 
seeing  who  it  is — that's  a  dear  ?" 

Dr.  Fox,  with  a  pleasant  smile,  admitted  Dr.  Gronow, 
on  his  very  first  visit  to  the  rectory. 

"  Others  not  come  yet  2"  asked  the  elder  gentleman,  as 
the  trembling  house  -  keeper  offered  him  a  chair ;  "  his 
reverence  would  hardly  like  a  pipe  here,  I  suppose.  Well, 
Jemmy,  what  is  your  opinion  of  all  this  strange  affair  ?" 

Mrs.  Muggridge  had  hurried  off,  with  a  shiver  and  a 
prayer. 

"  I  am  mum  before  my  betters,"  the  young  man  re- 
plied. "  The  case  is  gone  out  of  my  hands  altogether." 

"  And  a  good  thing  for  you.  I  am  glad  of  it  for  your 
sake.  But  we  must  not  anticipate  Gowler.  I  have  no 
business  here,  except  as  what  the  lawyers  call  amicus 
curice.  By4he-bye,  I  suppose  you  have  never  seen  the 
smallest  ground  for  suspicion  of  foul  play  ?" 

"  Never ;  I  should  have  come  to  you  first  if  I  had. 
There  could  be  no  possible  motive,  to  begin  with  ;  and 
everybody  loves  him  like  a  father." 

"  A  man  is  too  fatherly  sometimes.  One  never  can 
understand  those  foreign  women.  But  you  know  the 
family  and  1  do  not.  Excuse  me  for  a  horrible  suggestion. 
But  I  have  had  some  very  dark  experiences." 

"  And  so,  no  doubt,  has  Gowler.  The  idea  crossed  his 
brain,  but  was  scattered  immediately  when  he  knew  the 


DOCTORS    THKEE  49 

facts.  Hush,  here  they  come  !  Let  us  think  no  more  of 
that." 

Mr.  Penniloe  was  tired  and  in  very  low  spirits,  for  he 
looked  upon  this  meeting  as  the  fatal  crisis.  After  seeing 
to  his  visitors,  and  offering  refreshment — which  none  of 
them  accepted — he  took  a  chair  apart,  being  present  as  a 
listener  only. 

Thereupon  Dr.  Gowler,  in  very  few  words,  gave  his  view 
of  the  case,  premising  only  that  he  spoke  with  some  doubt, 
and  might  well  be  mistaken,  for  the  symptoms  were  per- 
plexing, and  the  malady  was  one  which  had  not  as  yet 
been  studied  at  all  exhaustively.  His  conclusion  agreed 
in  the  main  with  that  of  his  young  and  sagacious  coadju- 
tor, though  he  was  enabled,  by  longer  experience,  to  be, 
perhaps,  a  little  more  definite.  He  spoke  very  well,  and 
with  a  diffidence  which  particularly  impressed  the  others, 
on  the  part  of  a  man  whose  judgment  was  of  the  very 
highest  authority. 

Dr.  Gronow  immediately  confirmed  his  view,  so  far  as 
the  details  at  second  hand  could  warrant,  and  gave  his 
own  account  of  a  similar  case,  where  the  injury  was  caused 
by  the  handle  of  a  barrow,  and  continued  latent  for  sev- 
eral years.  The  unanimous  decision  was  that  no  hope 
remained,  unless  the  poor  patient  would  submit  to  a  sur- 
gical operation  of  great  difficulty  and  danger  in  the  then 
condition  of  medical  science,  and  for  which  it  was  advis- 
able to  have  recourse  to  Paris. 

"  I  know  him  too  well.  He  will  never  consent,"  Mr. 
Penniloe  came  forward,  and  sought  from  face  to  face  for 
some  gleam  of  encouragement ;  "  surely  there  must  be 
some  other  course,  something  at  least  to  alleviate — " 

"  There  may  be  ;  but  we  do  not  know  it  yet,  and  I  fear 
that  we  never  shall  do  so  ;  and  for  this  very  sufficient 
reason  " — here  Dr.  Gowler  took  a  glove  from  his  pocket, 
and  presented  a  most  simple  and  convincing  explanation 
of  the  mischief  that  had  happened,  and  the  consequence 
that  must  of  necessity  ensue  without  surgical  redress. 
Even  that,  he  admitted,  was  of  very  doubtful  issue,  in 
plain  English — u  either  kill  or  cure." 

The  parson  sighed  heavily,  and  even  Dr.  Fox  was  too 
much  affected  to  say  a  word  ;  but  the  elder  physicians 


50  PEKLYCKOSS 

seemed  to  think  it  right  and  natural,  and  a  credit  to  their 
science  that  they  knew  so  much  about  it.  Gowler  and 
Gronow  were  becoming  mighty  friends — so  far  as  two  men 
of  the  world  care  to  indulge — and  the  great  London  doc- 
tor accepted  with  pleasure  the  offer  of  a  day's  fly-fishing. 

"  I  have  not  thrown  a  fly  since  I  was  quite  a  boy," he  said. 

"And  I  never  threw  a  fly  till  I  was  an  old  man,"  said 
the  other ;  and  their  host  knew  well  which  would  have  the 
better  chance,  though  he  felt  a  little  vexed  at  their  light 
arrangements. 

"  It  is  not  for  the  sake  of  the  fishing,  my  dear  fellow," 
Dr.  Gowler  assured  him,  when  the  other  two  were  gone  ; 
"  I  was  to  have  left  you  in  the  morning,  as  you  know ; 
and  I  have  not  had  such  a  holiday  for  seven  years.  I  posi- 
tively needed  it,  and  shall  be  twice  the  man.  But  I  felt 
that  I  ought  to  stay  one  day  longer,  to  give  you  one  more 
chance  of  persuading  poor  Sir  Thomas.  See  how  hand- 
somely he  has  behaved — I  mean,  according  to  country  no- 
tions, though  I  often  make  more  in  one  day  in  town.  He 
slipped  this  into  my  hand,  sealed  up ;  and  I  did  not  re- 
fuse it,  for  fear  of  a  fuss.  But  you  will  return  it  when  I 
am  in  the  coach,  and  explain,  with  my  kind  regards,  that 
it  is  against  my  rule  to  take  any  fee  upon  a  visit  to  a 
friend.  I  came  to  renew  our  old  friendship  only,  and 
from  my  great  regard  for  you.  We  do  not  think  alike 
upon  the  greatest  of  all  matters.  Perhaps  that  is  better 
for  your  happiness  than  mine.  But,  after  all  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  world,  I  do  believe  that  the  best  friends  are 
those  who  are  like  you." 

Mr.  Penniloe  took  the  check  for  fifty  guineas,  and  placed 
it  in  his  desk  without  a  word,  for  he  knew  his  friend's 
character  too  well  to  argue.  Then  he  shook  him  very 
warmly  by  the  hand,  and  said,  "  Good-night." 

But  as  he  sank  back  in  his  chair  to  reflect,  and  examine 
himself  of  the  by-gone  day,  he  hoped  that  his  ears  had 
deceived  him  that  night  in  a  matter  which  had  shocked 
him  sadly.  Unless  they  had  erred,  Dr.  Gronow  had  said : 
"  In  a  case  of  this  kind,  for  the  advance  of  knowledge, 
autopsy  should  be  compulsory ;"  and  Harrison  Gowler 
had  replied,  "  Exactly  so ;  but  in  this  benighted  part  I 
suppose  it  is  impossible." 


CHAPTER   VII 
R.  I.  P. 

"  OH,  Mr.  Sergeant,  how  you  did  alarm  me  !"  cried  a 
very  pretty  damsel,  one  fine  October  evening,  as  she  al- 
most fell  upon  the  breast  of  "  High  Jarks,"  from  some 
narrow  stone  steps  at  the  corner  of  a  lane.  She  was  com- 
ing by  the  nearest  way  to  the  upper  village,  from  the  side- 
entrance  to  Walderscourt,  a  picturesque  way  but  a  rough 
one ;  for  the  lane  was  overhung,  and  even  overwhelmed, 
with  every  kind  of  hinderance  to  the  proper  course  of 
trade.  Out  of  the  sides,  and  especially  at  corners,  where 
the  right  of  way  should  have  been  most  sacred,  jutted 
forth  obstacles  most  inconsiderate,  or  even,  of  set  purpose, 
malicious.  If  a  great  stool  of  fern  could  be  treated  as 
nothing,  even  with  its  jagged  saws  quivering,  or  a  flexible 
ash  could  be  shoved  aside  lightly,  with  the  cowardly 
knowledge  that  it  had  no  thorns ;  yet  in  ambush,  with 
their  spears  couched,  would  be  the  files  of  furze,  the 
barbed  brigade  of  holly,  or  the  stiff  picket  of  blackthorn. 
And  any  man  engaged  with  these  deliveries  of  the  mo- 
ment might  thank  his  stars  (when  visible  through  the 
tangle  overhead)  if  by  any  chance  he  missed  a  blinding 
thump  in  both  his  eyes. 

Alas !  it  would  have  been  indeed  a  blessing,  as  well  as 
a  just  correction,  for  the  well-seasoned  master  of  the  youth 
of  Perlycross,  if  a  benevolent  switch  from  the  hedge-row 
had  taken  him  sharply  in  the  eyes  that  had  so  long  de- 
scried nothing  but  motes  in  more  tender  orbs.  As  the 
young  maid  drew  back  from  the  warlike  arm  which  had 
been  quite  obliged  to  encircle  her,  one  flash  of  her  eyes 
entered  those  of  Mr.  Jakes,  and  he  never  saw  again  as  he 
had  seen  before. 

But  his  usual  composure  was  not  gone  yet.     A  true 


52  PEKLYCKOSS 

school-master  is  well  assured,  whatever  the  circumstance 
may  be,  that  he  is  in  the  right,  and  all  others  in  the 
wrong. 

"  I  beg  you  will  offer  no  apologies,  miss,"  he  began, 
with  a  very  gracious  smile,  as  he  rubbed  up  the  nap  of  his 
old  velvet  coat  where  a  wicked  boy  had  tallow-candled  it ; 
"  I  take  it  that  you  are  a  stranger  here,  and  not  quite  fa- 
miliar with  our  kind  of  road.  The  roads  about  here  have 
a  manner  of  showing  that  they  know  not  in  what  direction 
they  are  going." 

"  But,  Mr.  Sergeant,  don't  you  know  me  ?  Not  so  very 
long  ago  I  ran  up  this  very  lane,  over  the  plank  bridge 
and  up  to  this  heling,  because  of  the  temper  you  were  in. 
It  was  my  brother  Watty  you  wanted  to  catch,  but  you 
flourished  your  cane  so  that  the  girls  ran,  too.  But  you 
would  not  have  beaten  poor  me,  Mr.  Sergeant?" 

She  skipped  back  a  step  or  two,  as  if  still  afraid,  and 
curtsied  to  show  her  pretty  figure,  and  managed  to  let 
her  bright  hair  fall  down  over  the  blush  of  her  soft,  round 
cheeks.  Then  she  lifted  her  eyes  with  the  sweetest  ap- 
peal, for  the  fair  Tamar  Haddon  was  a  born  coquette. 

"  Why,  Tamar,  my  dear,  can  it  possibly  be  you  ?  I  could 
never  have  supposed  that  you  would  come  to  this.  You 
were  always  the  prettiest  child  among  the  girls.  But,  as 
you  know,  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  them.  My  business 
has  always  been  with  the  boys." 

"  And  quite  right,  Mr.  Sergeant ;  they  are  so  much  bet- 
ter, so  much  quicker  to  learn,  as  well  as  better-looking  and 
more  interesting." 

"  That  depends  upon  who  it  may  be,"  said  Mr.  Jakes, 
judicially  ;  some  girls  are  much  better  at  round-hand,  as 
well  as  arithmetic.  But  why  have  I  lost  sight  of  you  all 
these  years?  And  why  have  you  grown  such  a  —  well, 
such  a  size?" 

"  Oh,  you  are  rude  !  I  am  not  a  size  at  all.  I  thought 
that  you  always  learned  politeness  in  the  wars.  I  am  only 
seventeen  round  the  waist — but  you  sha'n't  see.  No,  no ; 
stick  you  to  the  boys,  Mr.  Sergeant.  I  must  be  off.  I 
didn't  come  out  for  pleasure.  Good -evening,  sir;  good- 
evening  to  you." 

"  Don't  be  in  such  a  hurry,  Miss  Haddon.     Don't  you 


K.  I.  P.  53 

know  when  I  used  to  give  you  sugar-plums  out  of  this 
horn  box?  And  if  I  may  say  it  without  offence,  you  are 
much  too  pretty  to  be  in  this  dark  place  without  somebody 
to  take  care  of  you." 

"  Ah  !  now  you  are  more  like  the  army  again.  There  is 
nothing  like  a  warrior,  in  my  opinion.  Oh,  what  a  plague 
these  brambles  are !  Would  you  mind  just  holding  my 
hat  for  a  moment  ?  I  mustn't  go  into  the  village  such  a 
fright,  or  everybody  will  stare  at  me.  My  hair  is  such  a 
trouble,  I  have  half  a  mind  sometimes  to  cut  off  every  snip 
of  it.  No,  no,  you  can't  help  me ;  men  are  much  too 
clumsy." 

Mr.  Jakes  was  lost  in  deep  admiration,  and  Tamar  Had- 
don  knew  it  well,  and  turned  away  to  smile,  as  she  sat 
upon  a  bank  of  moss,  drawing  her  long  tresses  through 
the  supple  play  of  fingers  and  the  rosy  curve  of  palms ; 
while  her  cherry  lips  were  pouting  and  her  brown  eyes 
sparkling  in  and  out  the  golden  shower  from  her  saucy 
forehead.  The  school  -  master  held  her  little  hat,  and 
watched  every  movement  of  her  hands  and  eyes,  and 
wondered ;  for  the  gayety  of  girlhood  and  the  blushes 
and  the  glances  were  as  the  opening  of  a  new  world 
to  him. 

"  I  know  what  you  are  thinking  now — it's  no  good  to 
deny  it !"  she  cried,  as  she  jumped  up  and  snatched  her 
hat  away.  "You  are  saying  to  yourself,  'What  a  poor 
vain  creature  !  Servants'  hats  are  not  allowed  in  well-con- 
ducted households.'  But  you  must  understand  that  I  am 
not  a  common  servant.  I  am  a  private  lady's-maid  to  her 
ladyship,  the  countess ;  and  she  has  none  of  your  old- 
fashioned  English  ways  about  her.  She  likes  to  see  me 
look — well,  perhaps  you  would  not  call  it  l  pretty,'  for 
that  depends  upon  the  wearer,  and  I  have  no  pretension 
to  it,  but  tidy,  and  decent,  and  tolerably  nice — " 

"  Wonderfully  nice,  and  as  lovely  as  a  rose." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Sergeant,  you  who  must  know  so  much  bet- 
ter !  But  I  have  no  time  for  such  compliments,  and  they 
would  turn  my  little  head  from  such  a  learned  man  as  you 
are.  How  can  I  think  of  myself  for  a  moment,  when 
things  are  so  dreadful?  Poor  Sir  Thomas — you  know 
how  ill  he  is ;  he  is  longing  for  something,  and  I  am  sent 


54  PEBLYCKOSS 

to  fetch  it  on  the  sly,  so  that  Dr.  Fox  should  have  no  idea, 
but  her  ladyship  says  that  it  can  do  no  harm,  now." 

"  What,  the  poor  colonel  waiting,  miss,  and  I  have  kept 
you  all  this  time  ?  I  was  just  on  my  way  to  inquire  for 
him,  when — when  I  happened  to  meet  you.  I  can  scarce- 
ly believe  in  any  doctor  conquering  him." 

"  They  are,  though — they  are  doing  it.  He  is  very  low 
to-day.  They  seem  to  have  brought  him  down  to  a  flat 
knock-under,  just  as  you  do  with  the  school-boys.  I  can't 
hardly  think  of  it  without  crying." 

The  fair  Tamar  dropped  her  eyes,  and  hung  her  head  a 
little,  and  then  looked  softly  at  the  veteran  to  plead  for 
his  warmest  sympathy. 

"  There,  I  declare  to  you,  I  have  cried  so  much  that  I 
can't  cry  no  more,"  she  continued,  with  a  sigh ;  "  but  it  is 
a  calf's  sweetbread  that  I  be  bound  to  get;  and  where 
from,  I'd  like  to  know,  unless  it  is  to  Mr.  Robert's." 

A  pang  shot  through  the  heart  of  Mr.  Jakes,  and  if  his 
cane  had  been  at  hand  he  would  have  grasped  it.  For 
Mr.  Robert  was  his  own  brother,  the  only  butcher  in  the 
village,  a  man  of  festive  nature  (as  a  butcher  ought  to  be), 
of  no  habitual  dignity — and  therefore  known  as  "Low 
Jarks  " — a  favourite  with  the  fair  sex,  and,  worst  of  all, 
some  twenty  years  the  junior  of  "  High  Jarks." 

"  What,  young  Bobby  !"  cried  the  sergeant,  striking 
out ;  "  there  is  nothing  that  he  knows  worth  speaking  of. 
And  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  he  never  will  know 
nothing — I  mean  to  say  'anything.'  Sometimes  I  go 
back  from  all  my  instructions  all  over  the  world  to  the 
way — to  the  way  you  talk  in  this  part  of  the  world." 

"But,  Mr.  Sergeant,  that  is  only  natural,  considering 
that  you  belong  to  this  part  of  the  world.  Now,  you  do 
— don't  you  ?  However  learned  you  may  be." 

"Well,  I  will  not  deny  that  it  comes  up  sometimes. 
A  man  of  my  years — I  mean,  a  young  man  by  age,  and 
yet  one  who  has  partaken  in  great  motions,  feels  himself 
so  very  much  above  butchers' -shops,  and  the  like  of  them. 
And  all  the  women — or  as  they  call  themselves  now,  all 
the  ladies — of  the  neighbourhood,  have  now  been  so  well 
educated  that  they  think  a  great  deal  of  the  difference." 

"  To  be  sure,"  said  Tamar  Haddon,  "  I  can  quite  see 


R.  I.  P.  55 

that.  But  how  could  they  get  their  meat  without  J;he 
butchers'-shops  ?  Some  people  are  too  learned,  Mr.  Ser- 
geant." 

"  I  know  it,  miss.  But  I  am  very  particular  not  to  let 
any  one  say  it  of  me.  I  could  quote  Latin  if  I  chose ; 
but  who  would  put  a  spill  to  my  pipe  afterwards  ?  One 
must  never  indulge  in  all  one  knows." 

"  Well,  it  does  seem  a  pity,  after  spending  years  about 
it.  But  here  we  are  come  to  the  river-side  at  last.  You . 
mustn't  think  of  coming  across  the  plank  with  me.  It 
would  never  do  to  have  you  drownded ;  and  you  know 
what  Betty  Cork  is.  Why,  all  the  boys  to  Perlycross 
would  be  making  mouths  to-morrow !  And  I  shall  go 
home  along  the  turnpike-road." 

The  school-master  saw  the  discretion  of  this.  Charmed 
as  he  was  with  this  gay  young  maid,  he  must  never  for- 
get what  was  thought  of  him. 

For  she  was  the  daughter  of  Walter  Haddon,  the  land- 
lord of  the  Ivy-bush,  a  highly  respectable  place,  and  there- 
fore jealous  of  the  parish  reputation.  Moreover,  the  hand- 
rail of  the  foot-bridge  was  now  on  the  side  of  his  empty 
sleeve ;  and  the  plank  being  very  light  and  tremulous,  he 
feared  to  recross  it  without  stepping  backward,  which  was 
better  done  without  spectators.  So  he  stayed  where  he 
was,  while  she  tripped  across  without  even  touching  the 
hand-rail ;  and  the  dark  gleam  of  the  limpid  Perle,  in  the 
twilight  of  gray  branches,  fluttered  with  her  passing 
shadow. 

Just  as  she  turned  on  the  opposite  bank,  where  cart- 
ruts  ridged  the  water's  brink,  and  was  kissing  her  hand 
to  the  ancient  soldier,  with  a  gay  "Good -evening,"  the 
deep  boom  of  a  big  bell  rang  and  quivered  throughout 
the  valley.  Cattle  in  the  meadows  ceased  from  browsing, 
and  looked  up  as  if  they  were  called ;  birds  made  wing 
for  the  distant  wood,  and  sere  leaves  in  the  stillness  rus- 
tled, as  the  solemn  thrill  trembled  in  the  darkening  air. 

"  For  God's  sake,  count !"  the  old  soldier  cried,  raising 
the  hat  from  his  grizzled  head,  and  mounting  a  hillock 
clear  of  bushes  ;  "  it  is  the  big  bell  tolling !" 

But  the  frolicsome  maiden  had  disappeared,  and  he  was 
left  to  count  alone. 


56  PEELYCROS8 

At  intervals  of  a  minute,  while  the  fall  of  night  grew 
heavier,  the  burden  of  the  passing-bell  was  laid  on  mortal 
ears  and  hearts. 

"  Time  is  over  for  one  more," 

was  graven  on  the  front  of  it,  and  was  borne  along  the 
valley ;  while  the  echo  of  the  hills  brought  home  the  les- 
son of  the  reverse — 

"Soon  shall  thy  own  life  be  o'er." 

Keeping  throbbing  count,  the  listener  spread  the  fingers 
of  his  one  hand  upon  his  threadbare  waistcoat,  and  they 
trembled  more  and  more  as  the  number  grew  towards  the 
fatal  forty-nine.  When  the  forty-ninth  stroke  ceased  to 
ring,  and  the  last  pulsation  died  away,  he  stood  as  if  his 
own  life  depended  on  the  number  fifty.  But  the  knell 
was  finished;  the  years  it  told  of  were  but  forty-nine — 
gone  by,  like  the  minutes  between  the  strokes. 

"  Old  Channing,  perhaps,  is  looking  at  the  tower-clock. 
Hark !  In  a  moment  he  will  strike  another  stroke."  But 
old  Channing  knew  his  arithmetic  too  well. 

"  Now  God  forgive  me  for  a  sinful  man,  or  worse  than 
a  man,  an  ungrateful  beast !"  cried  the  sergeant,  falling 
upon  his  knees,  with  sorrow  imbittered  by  the  shameful 
thought  that  while  his  old  chief  was  at  the  latest  gasp, 
himself  had  been  flirting  merrily  with  a  handmaid  of  the 
house,  and  sniggering  like  a  raw  recruit.  He  wiped  his 
eyes  with  the  back  of  his  hand,  and  the  lesson  of  the  bell 
fell  on  him. 

It  had  fallen  at  the  same  time  upon  ears  more  heedful 
and  less  needful  of  it.  Mr.  Penniloe,  on  his  homeward 
road,  received  the  mournful  message,  and  met  the  groom 
who  had  ridden  so  hard  to  save  the  angelical  hour.  And 
truly,  if  there  be  any  value  in  the  ancient  saying — 

"  Happy  is  the  soul 
That  hath  a  speedy  toll," 

the  flight  of  Sir  Thomas  Waldron's  spirit  was  in  the  right 
direction. 


R.  i.  P.  57 

The  clergyman  turned  from  his  homeward  path,  and 
hastened  to  the  house  of  mourning.  He  scarcely  expected 
that  any  one  as  yet  would  care  to  come  down  or  speak  to 
him ;  but  the  least  he  could  do  was  to  offer  his  help.  In 
the  hush  of  the  dusk  he  was  shown  through  the  hall,  and 
into  a  little  sitting-room  favoured  by  the  ladies.  Believ- 
ing that  he  was  quite  alone,  for  no  one  moved,  and  the 
light  was  nearly  spent,  he  took  a  seat  by  the  curtained 
window,  and  sank  into  a  train  of  sombre  thoughts.  But 
presently  a  lapping  sound  aroused  him,  and  going  to  the 
sofa,  there  he  found  his  favourite  Nicie  overcome  with  sor- 
row, her  head  drooping  back  like  a  wind -tossed  flower; 
while  Pixie,  with  a  piteous  gaze,  was  nestling  to  her  side, 
and  offering  every  now  and  then  the  silent  comfort  of  his 
tongue. 

"  What  is  it,  my  dear  2"  the  parson  asked,  as  if  he  did 
not  know  too  well.  But  who  knows  what  to  say  some- 
times? Then,  shocked  at  himself,  he  said,  "Don't,  my 
dear."  But  she  went  on  sobbing  as  if  he  had  not  spoken ; 
and  he  thought  of  his  little  Fay  when  she  lost  her 
mother. 

He  was  too  kind  to  try  any  consolations  or  press  the 
sense  of  duty  yet ;  but  he  put  on  his  glasses,  and  took 
little  Pixie,  and  began  to  stroke  his  wrinkled  brow. 

"  This  dear  little  thing  is  crying,  too,"  he  whispered ; 
and  certainly  there  were  tears,  his  own  or  another's,  on 
the  velvet  nose.  Then  Nicie  rose  slowly,  and  put  back 
her  hair  and  tried  to  look  bravely  at  both  of  them. 

"  If  mother  could  only  cry,"  she  said ;  "  but  she  has 
not  moved  once,  and  she  will  not  come  away.  There  is 
one  thing  she  ought  to  do,  but  she  cannot ;  and  I  am 
afraid  that  I  should  never  do  it  right.  Oh,  will  you  do  it, 
Uncle  Penniloe  ?  It  would  be  an  excuse  to  get  her  out 
of  the  room  ;  and  then  we  might  make  her  lie  down 
and  be  better.  My  father  is  gone ;  and  will  mother  go, 
too  ?" 

Speaking  as  steadily  as  she  could,  but  breaking  down 
every  now  and  then,  she  told  him  that  there  was  a  cer- 
tain old  ring,  of  no  great  value,  but  very  curious,  which 
her  father  had  said  many  years  ago  he  would  like  to 
have  buried  with  him.  He  seemed  to  have  forgotten  it 
3* 


58  PERLYCROSS 

throughout  his  long  illness,  but  his  wife  had  remembered 
it  suddenly  and  had  told  them  where  to  find  it.  It  was 
found  by  a  trusty  servant  now  ;  and  she  was  present,  while 
Mr.  Penniloe  placed  it  on  the  icy  finger,  and  dropped  a 
tear  on  the  forehead  of  his  friend,  holy  now  in  the  last 
repose. 

On  his  homeward  path  that  night  the  curate  saw 
through  the  gloom  of  lonely  sorrow  many  a  storm  impend- 
ing. Who  was  there  now  to  hold  the  parish  in  the  bonds 
of  amity,  to  reconcile  the  farmers'  feuds,  to  help  the  strug- 
gling tradesman,  to  bury  the  aged  cripple,  to  do  any  of 
those  countless  deeds  of  good -will  and  humanity  which 
are  less  than  the  discount  of  the  interest  of  the  debt  due 
from  the  wealthy  to  the  poor  ? 

And  who  would  cheer  him  now  with  bold  decision  and 
kind  deference  in  all  those  difficulties  which  beset  the 
country  clergyman  who  hates  to  strain  his  duty,  yet  is 
fearful  of  relaxing  it  ?  Such  difficulties  must  arise ;  and 
though  there  certainly  was  in  those  days  a  great  deal  more 
fair  give-and-take  than  can  be  now  expected,  there  was 
less  of  settled  rule  and  guidance  for  a  peaceful  parson. 
Moreover,  he  felt  the  important  charge  which  he  had 
undertaken  as  cotrustee  of  large  estates,  as  well  as  a  nerv- 
ous dread  of  being  involved  in  heavy  outlay,  with  no  rich 
friend  to  back  him  now,  concerning  the  repairs,  and,  in 
some  measure,  the  rebuilding,  of  the  large  and  noble  par- 
ish church. 

But  all  these  personal  troubles  vanished  in  the  mem- 
ories of  true  friendship,  and  in  holy  confidence,  when  he 
performed  that  last  sad  duty  in  the  dismantled  church,  and 
then  in  the  eastern  nook  of  the  long  graveyard.  He  had 
dreaded  this  trial  not  a  little,  but  knew  what  his  dear 
friend  would  have  wished  ;  and  the  needful  strength  was 
given  him. 

It  has  been  said,  and  is  true  too  often  (through  our 
present  usages),  that  one  funeral  makes  many.  A  strong 
east  wind  of  unwonted  bitterness  at  this  time  of  year — 
it  was  now  the  last  day  of  October  —  whistled  through 
the  crowd  of  mourners,  fluttered  scarf  and  crape  and  veil, 
and  set  old  Channing's  last  tooth  raging,  and  tossed  the 
minister's  whitening  locks  and  the  leaves  of  the  Office  for 


E.  I.  P.  59 

the  Dead.  So  cold  was  the  air  that  people  of  real  pity 
and  good  feeling,  if  they  had  no  friends  in  the  village, 
hied  to  the  Ivy-bush  when  all  was  over,  and  called  for  hot 
brandy-and-water. 

But  among  them  was  not  Mr.  Jakes,  though  he  needed 
a  stimulus  as  much  as  any.  He  lingered  in  the  church- 
yard till  the  banking  up  was  done,  and  every  one  else  had 
quitted  it.  When  all  alone,  he  scooped  a  hole  at  the  head 
of  the  grave  and  filled  it  with  a  bunch  of  white  chrysan- 
themums, embedded  firmly  to  defy  the  wind.  Then  he 
returned  to  the  sombre  school-room  at  the  west  end  of  the 
church-yard,  and  with  one  window  looking  into  it.  There, 
although  he  had  flint  and  tinder,  he  did  not  even  light  a 
dip,  but  sat  for  hours  in  his  chair  of  office  with  his  head 
laid  on  the  old  oak  desk.  Rough  and  sad  and  tumbled 
memories  passed  before  his  gray-thatched  eyes,  and  stirred 
the  recesses  of  his  rugged  heart. 

Suddenly  a  shadow  fell  across  his  desk.  He  rose  from 
his  dream  of  the  past,  and  turning,  saw  the  half -moon 
quivering  aslant  through  the  diamond  panes  of  the  lattice. 
For  a  minute  he  listened,  but  there  was  nothing  to  be 
heard  except  a  long,  low,  melancholy  wail.  Then  he  but- 
toned his  coat,  his  best  Sunday  black,  and  was  ashamed  to 
find  the  empty  cuff  wet  as  the  bib  of  an  infant,  but  with 
the  tears  of  motherless  old  age. 

After  his  manner  —  when  no  boys  were  nigh  —  he  con- 
demned himself  for  an  ancient  fool,  and  was  about  to 
strike  a  light  when  the  sad,  low  sound  fell  again  upon  his 
ears.  Determined  to  know  what  the  meaning  of  it  was, 
he  groped  for  his  hat  and  stout  oak  staff,  and  entered  the 
church-yard  by  the  little  iron  gate,  the  private  way  from 
the  school  premises. 

The  silence  was  as  deep  as  the  stillness  of  the  dead ; 
but,  by  the  light  of  the  westering  moon,  he  made  his  way 
among  the  white  tombstones  and  the  rubbish  of  the 
builders  to  the  eastern  corner  where  Sir  Thomas  Waldron 
lay.  His  old  chief's  grave  was  fair  and  smooth,  and  the 
crisp  earth  glistened  in  the  moonlight,  for  the  wind  had 
fallen,  and  a  frost  was  setting  in ;  but  a  small  black  figure 
lay  on  the  crown,  close  to  the  bunch  of  flowers.  A  low 
growl  met  him,  and  then  a  dismal  wail  of  anguish,  be- 


60  PEKLYCROSS 

yond  any  power  of  words  or  tears,  trembled  along  the  wan 
alleys  of  the  dead,  and  lingered  in  the  shadowy  recesses 
of  the  church. 

"  Good  little  Jess,  thou  art  truer  than  mankind,"  said 
the  sergeant,  and  marched  away  to  his  lonely  bed. 


CHAPTER   VHI 
THE    POTATO-FIELD 

LIVE  who  may,  and  die  who  must,  the  work  of  the 
world  shall  be  carried  on.  Of  all  these  works,  the  one 
that  can  never  be  long  in  arrears  is  eating ;  and  of  all 
British  victuals,  next  to  bread,  the  potato  claims,  perhaps, 
the  foremost  place.  Where  the  soil  is  light  towards  Hag- 
don  Hill,  on  the  property  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  pota- 
toes meet  for  any  dignitary  of  the  Church  could  be  dug 
by  the  ton  in  those  days.  In  these  democratic  and  epi- 
demic times,  it  is  hard  to  find  a  good  potato ;  and  the 
reason  is  too  near  to  seek.  The  finer  the  quality  of  fruit 
or  root,  the  fiercer  are  they  that  fall  on  it ;  and  the  Nem- 
esis of  excellence  already  was  impending.  But  the  fatal 
blow  had  not  fallen  yet ;  the  ripe  leaves  strewed  the  earth 
with  vivid  gold  instead  of  reeking,  weltering  smut,  and 
the  berries  were  sound  for  boys  and  girls  to  pelt  one 
another  across  the  field ;  while  at  the  lift  of  the  glis- 
tening fork  across  the  crumbling  ridges,  up  sprang  a 
cluster  of  rosy  globes,  clean  as  a  codlin  and  chubby  as 
a  cherub. 

Farmer  John  Homer,  the  senior  church- warden,  and  the 
largest  rate-payer  on  the  south  side  of  the  Perle,  would 
never  have  got  on  as  he  did  without  some  knowledge  of 
the  weather.  The  bitter  east  wind  of  the  previous  night, 
and  the  keen  frost  of  the  morning,  had  made  up  his  mind 
that  was  high  time  to  lift  his  best  field  of  potatoes.  He 
had  two  large  butts  to  receive  the  filled  sacks  —  assorted 
into  ware  and  chats — and  every  working-man  on  the  farm, 
as  well  as  his  wife  and  children,  had  been  ordered  to  stick 
at  this  job,  and  clear  this  four-acre  field  before  nightfall. 
The  field  was  a  good  step  from  the  village,  as  well  as  from 
Fanner  Homer's  house  ;  and  the  lower  end  (where  the 


62  PERLYCEOSS 

gate  was)  abutted  on  the  Susscot  lane,  leading  from  the 
ford  to  Perlycross. 

It  was  now  All-Hallows  Day,  accounted  generally  the 
farewell  of  autumn  and  arrival  of  the  winter.  Birds  and 
beasts  that  know  their  time  without  recourse  to  calendar 
had  made  the  best  use  of  that  knowledge  and  followed 
suit  of  wisdom.  Some  from  the  hills  were  seeking  down- 
ward, not  to  abide  in  earnest  yet,  but  to  see  for  them- 
selves what  men  had  done  for  their  comfort  when  the 
pinch  should  come ;  some  of  more  tender  kind  were  gone 
with  a  whistle  at  the  storms  they  left  behind ;  and  others 
had  taken  their  winter  apparel  and  meant  to  hold  fast  to 
the  homes  they  understood. 

Farmer  John,  who  was  getting  rather  short  of  breath 
from  the  fatness  of  his  bacon,  stirred  about  steadfastly 
among  the  rows,  exhorting,  ordering,  now  and  then  up- 
braiding, when  a  digger  stuck  his  fork  into  the  finest  of 
the  clump.  He  had  put  his  hunting  gaiters  on,  because 
the  ground  would  clog  as  soon  as  the  rime  began  to  melt ; 
and  the  fog,  which  still  lingered  in  the  hollows  of  the 
slopes,  made  him  pull  his  triple  chin  out  of  his  comforter 
to  cough  as  often  as  he  opened  his  big  mouth  to  scold. 
For  he  was  not  (like  farmers  of  the  present  day)  too  thank- 
ful for  anything  that  can  be  called  a  crop  to  utter  a  cross 
word  over  it. 

Old  Mr.  Channing,  the  clerk,  came  in  by  the  gate  from 
the  lane  when  the  sun  was  getting  high.  Not  that  he 
meant  to  do  much  work  —  for  anything  but  graves,  his 
digging  time  was  past,  and  it  suited  him  better  to  make 
breeches — but  simply  that  he  liked  to  know  how  things 
were  going  on,  and  thought  it  not  impossible  that  if  he 
praised  the  "  'taturs,"  church-warden  might  say,  "  Bob,  you 
shall  taste  them ;  we'll  drop  you  a  bushel  when  the  butt 
comes  by  your  door."  So  he  took  up  a  root  or  two  here 
and  there  and  "  hefted  it "  (that  is  to  say,  poised  it  care- 
fully to  judge  the  weight  as  one  does  a  letter  for  the  post), 
and  then  stroked  the  sleek  skin  lovingly,  and  put  it  down 
gingerly  for  fear  of  any  bruise.  -Farmer  John  watched 
him,  with  a  dry  little  grin ;  for  he  knew  what  the  old  gen- 
tleman was  up  to. 

"  Never  seed  such  'taturs  in  all  my  life,"  Mr.  Channing 


THE    POTATO-FIELD  63 

declared,  with  a  sigh  of  admiration.  "  Talk  of  varmers  ! 
There  be  nobody  fit  to  hold  a  can'le  to  our  Measter  John. 
I  reckon  them  would  fry  even  better  than  they  b'iled  ;  and 
that's  where  to  judge  of  a  'tatur,  I  contends." 

"Hollo,  Mr.  Clerk!  How  be  you  then,  this  fine  morn- 
ing?" the  farmer  shouted  out,  as  if  no  muttering  would 
do  for  him,  while  he  straddled  over  a  two-foot  ridge,  with 
the  rime  thawing  down  his  gaiters.  "  Glad  to  see  'e  here, 
old  veller.  What  difference  do  'e  reckon,  now,  betwixt  a 
man  and  a  'tatur  ?" 

Farmer  John  was  famous  for  his  riddles.  He  made 
them  all  himself  in  conversation  with  his  wife — for  he  had 
not  married  early — and  there  was  no  man  in  the^  parish 
yet  with  brains  enough  to  solve  them.  And  if  any  one 
attempted  it  the  farmer  alway  snubbed  him. 

"  There,  now,  ye  be  too  deep  for  me  !"  Mr.  Channing 
made  a  hole  in  the  ground  with  his  stick,  as  if  Mr.  Homer 
was  at  the  bottom  of  it.  "  It  requireth  a  deal  more  than 
us  have  got  to  get  underneath  your  meaning,  sir." 

"  No,  Bob,  no  !  It  be  very  zimple  and  zuitable,  too,  for 
your  trade.  A  'tatur  cometh  out  of  ground  when  a'  be 
ripe,  but  a  man  the  zame  way  goeth  underground.  And 
a  good  thing  for  him  if  he  'bideth  there,  according  to  what 
hath  been  done  in  these  here  parts,  or  a  little  way  up 
country.  No  call  for  thee  to  laugh,  Bob,  at  thy  time  of 
life,  when  behooveth  thee  to  think  over  it.  But  I'll  give 
thee  an  order  for  a  pair  of  corduroys,  and  thou  shalt  have 
a  few  'taturs  when  the  butt  comes  by.  Us,  as  belongs  to 
the  Church,  is  bound  to  keep  her  agoing  when  the  hogs 
won't  miss  it.  But  there,  Lord  now,  I  want  a  score  of 
nose- rings!  Have  'e  seed  anything  of  Joe  Crang  this 
morning  ?  We  never  heerd  nort  of  his  anvil  all  the  time ! 
Beckon  Joe  had  a  drop  too  much  at  the  Bush  last  night." 

"  Why,  here  a'  cooin'th  !"  exclaimed  the  clerk.  "  Look, 
a'  be  claimbin'  of  an  open  gate !  Whatever  can  possess  the 
man  ?  A'  couldn't  look  more  mazed  and  weist  if  a  hun- 
derd  of  ghostesses  was  after  him  !" 

Joseph  Crang,  the  blacksmith  at  Susscot  ford,  where  the 
Susscot  brook  passed  on  its  way  to  the  Perle,  was  by 
nature  of  a  merry  turn,  and  showed  it  in  his  face.  But 
he  had  no  red  now,  nor  even  any  black  about  him,  and  the 


64  PERLYCKOSS 

resolute  aspect  with  which  he  shod  a  horse  or  swung  a 
big  hammer  was  changed  into  a  quivering  ghastly  stare ; 
his  lips  were  of  an  ashy-blue,  like  a  ring  of  tobacco-smoke  ; 
and  as  for  his  body  and  legs  and  clothes,  they  seemed  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  one  another. 

"  What  aileth  the  man  ?"  cried  Mr.  Channing,  standing 
across,  as  he  had  the  right  to  do  after  bestraddling  so 
many  burials  ;  "  Master  Joe  Crang,  I  call  upon  thee  to  col- 
lect thy  wits  and  out  with  it." 

"  Joe,  thy  biggest  customer  hath  a  right  to  know  thy 
meaning."  Farmer  John  had  been  expecting  to  have  to 
run  away,  but  was  put  in  courage  by  the  clerk,  and 
brought  up  his  heels  in  a  line  with  the  old  man's. 

"  Coompany,  coompany  is  all  I  axes  for,"  the  black- 
smith gasped,  weakly,  as  if  talking  to  himself — "  coom- 
pany of  living  volk  as  rightly  is  alive." 

"  Us  be  all  alive,  old  chap.  But  how  can  us  tell  as  you 
be  ?"  The  clerk  was  a  seasoned  man  of  fourscore  years, 
and  knew  all  the  tricks  of  mortality. 

"  I  wish  I  wadn't.  A'most  I  wish  I  wadn't  after  all  I 
zeed  last  night.  But  veel  of  me,  veel  of  me,  Measter 
Channin',  if  you  plaise  to  veel  of  me." 

"  Tull  'e  what,"  the  church- warden  interposed  ;  "  gie  'un 
a  drink  of  zider,  Bob.  If  a'  be  Joe  Crang  a'  won't  say  no  to 
thiccy.  There  be  my  own  little  zup  over  by  the  hedge,  Joe." 

Without  any  scruple  the  blacksmith  afforded  this  proof 
of  vitality.  The  cider  was  of  the  finest  strain — "  three 
stang  three,"  as  they  called  it — and  Joe  looked  almost  like 
himself  as  he  put  down  the  little  wooden  keg  with  a  deep 
sigh  of  comfort. 

"  Maketh  one  veel  like  a  man  again,"  he  exclaimed,  as 
he  napped  himself  on  the  chest.  "  Master  Hornder,  I  owe 
'e  a  good  turn  for  this.  Lord  only  knoweth  where  I 
maight  a'  been  after  a'  visited  me  zo  last  night.  It  was  a 
visit  of  the  wicked  one,  by  kitums."  Master  Crang  hitched 
up  his  trousers  and  seemed  ready  to  be  off  again.  But 
the  church-warden  griped  him  by  the  collar. 

"  Nay,  man.  Sha'n't  have  it  thy  own  way.  After  what 
us  have  doed  for  thy  throat,  us  have  a  call  upon  thy 
breath.  Strange  ways  with  strangers ;  open  breast  with 
bellyful." 


THE    POTATO-FIELD  65 

The  honest  blacksmith  stood  in  doubt,  and  some  of  his 
terror  crept  back  again.  "Bain't  for  me  to  zettle.  Be  a 
job  for  Passon  Penniloe.  Swore  upon  my  knees  I  did. 
Here  be  the  mark  on  my  small-clothes.  Passon  is  the 
only  man  can  set  my  soul  to  liberty." 

"  What  odds  to  us  about  thy  soul  ?  'Tis  thy  tongue  we 
want,  lad !"  the  senior  church-warden  cried,  impatiently. 
"  Thou  shalt  never  see  a  groat  of  mine  again,  unless  thou 
speakest." 

"Passon  hath  a  chill  in  's  bones;  and  the  doctor  hath 
been  called  to  him,"  Mr.  Channing  added,  with  a  look  of 
upper  wisdom.  "  Clerk  and  church- warden,  in  council  as- 
sembled, hath  all  the  godliness  of  a  rubric." 

The  blacksmith  was  moved,  and  began  to  scratch  his 
head.  "  If  a'  could  only  see  it  so  !"  he  muttered — "  how- 
somever,  horder  they  women  vessels  out  o'  zight.  A 
woman  hath  no  need  to  hear  if  her  can  zee — according  as 
the  wise  man  sayeth.  And  come  where  us  can  see  the 
sun  a-shinin',  for  my  words  will  make  'e  shiver  if  ye 
both  was  tombstones.  I  feel  myself  a-busting  to  be  rid 
of  them." 

Master  Crang's  tale — with  his  speech  fetched  up  to  the 
manner  of  the  east  of  England,  and  his  flinty  words  broken 
into  our  road-metal — may  fairly  be  taken  for  spoken  as 
follows  : 

"  No  longer  agone  than  last  night,  I  tell  you,  I  went  to 
bed  pretty  much  as  usual,  with  nothing  to  dwell  upon  in 
my  mind,  without  it  was  poor  squire's  funeral,  because  I 
had  been  attending  of  it.  I  stayed  pretty  nearly  to  the 
last  of  that,  and  saw  the  ground  going  in  again,  and  then 
I  just  looked  in  at  the  Bush  because  my  heart  was  down- 
some.  All  the  company  was  lonesome,  and  the  room  was 
like  a  barn  after  a  bad  cold  harvest,  with  a  musty  nose  to 
it.  There  was  nobody  with  spirit  to  stand  glasses  round, 
and  nobody  with  heart  to  call  for  them.  The  squire  was 
that  friendly-minded  that  all  of  us  were  thinking,  *  The 
Lord  always  taketh  the  best  of  us.  I  may  be  the  one  to 
be  called  for  next.'  Then  an  old  man  in  the  corner,  who 
could  scarcely  hold  his  pipe,  began  in  a  low  voice  about 
burials  and  doctors  and  the  way  they  strip  the  graves  up 
the  country,  and  the  others  fell  in  about  their  experience, 


66  PEELYCROSS 

and  with  only  two  candles  and  no  snuffers  but  the  tongs, 
any  one  might  take  us  for  a  company  of  sextons. 

"The  night  was  cruel  cold  when  I  come  out,  and  every- 
thing looking  weist  and  unkid,  and  the  big  bear  was  right 
across  the  jags  of  the  church-tower ;  and  with  nothing  in- 
side to  keep  me  up  to  the  mark,  and  no  neighbour  making 
company,  the  sound  of  my  own  heels  was  forced  upon  my 
ears,  as  you  might  say,  by  reason  of  the  gloomy  road ; 
and  a  spark  of  flint  sometimes  coming  up  like  steel-filings 
when  I  ran  to  keep  heat,  for  I  had  not  so  much  as  a  stick 
with  me.  And  when  I  got  home  I  roused  up  the  forge- 
fire  so  as  to  make  sure  where  I  was  and  comfort  my  knuc- 
kles, and  then  I  brashed  it  down,  with  coals  at  present  fig- 
ure, for  the  morning. 

"  As  it  happened,  my  wife  had  been  a  little  put  out 
about  something  or  other  in  the  morning ;  you  know  how 
the  women-folk  get  into  ways  and  come  out  of  them  again 
without  no  cause.  But  when  she  gets  into  that  frame  of 
mind  she  never  saith  much  to  justify  it,  as  evil-tempered 
women  do,  but  keeps  herself  quiet  and  looks  away  bigly, 
and  leaves  me  to  do  things  for  myself,  until  such  time  as 
she  comes  round  again.  So  I  took  a  drink  of  water  from 
the  shoot  instead  of  warming  up  the  teapot,  and  got  into 
bed  like  a  lamb,  without  a  word,  leaving  her  to  begin  again 
by  such  time  as  she  should  find  repentance.  And  before 
I  went  to  sleep  there  was  no  sound  to  be  heard  in  the 
house  or  in  the  shop  below  ;  without  it  was  a  rat  or  two, 
and  the  children  snoring  in  the  inner  room,  and  the  baby 
breathing  very  peaceful  in  the  cradle  to  the  other  side  of 
the  bed,  that  was  strapped  on,  to  come  at  for  nursing  of 
her. 

"  Well,  I  can't  say  how  long  it  may  have  been,  because 
I  sleep  rather  heartily,  before  I  was  roused  up  by  a  thun- 
dering noise  going  through  the  house  like  the  roaring  of 
a  bull.  Sally  had  caught  up  the  baby,  and  was  hugging 
and  talking  as  if  they  would  rob  her  of  it,  and  when  I 
asked  what  all  this  hubbub  was,  '  You  had  better  go  and 
see,'  was  all  she  said.  Something  told  me  it  was  no  right 
thing,  and  my  heart  began  beating  as  loud  as  a  flail  when 
I  crept  through  the  dark  to  the  window  in  the  thatch, 
for  the  place  was  as  black  almost  as  the  bottomt  of  my 


THE    POTATO- FIELD  67 

dipping-trough,  and  I  undid  the  window  and  called  out, 
1  Who  is  there  ?'  with  as  much  strength  as  ever  I  was 
master  of  just  then. 

" '  Come  down,  or  we'll  roast  you  alive,'  says  a  great 
gruff  voice  that  I  never  heard  the  like  of ;  and  there  I  saw 
a  red-hot  clinker  in  my  own  tongs  a  sputtering  within  an 
inch  of  my  own  smithy  thatch. 

"  '  For  God's  sake,  hold  hard  !'  says  I,  a-thinking  of  the 
little  ones  ;  '  in  less  than  two  minutes  I'll  be  with  you.' 
I  couldn't  spare  time  to  strike  a  light,  and  my  hands  were 
too  shaky  for  to  do  it.  I  huddled  on  my  working-clothes 
anyhow,  going  by  the  feel  of  them,  and  then  I  groped  my 
way  down-stairs,  and  felt  along  the  wall  to  the  back  way  into 
the  workshop,  and  there  was  a  little  light  throwing  a  kind 
of  shadow  from  the  fire  being  bellowsed  up,  but  not  enough 
to  see  things  advisedly.  The  door  had  been  kicked  open 
and  the  bar  bulged  in ;  and  there  in  the  dark  stood  a  ter- 
rible great  fellow,  bigger  than  Dascombe,  the  wrestler,  by 
a  foot,  so  far  as  I  could  make  out  by  the  stars  and  the 
glimmer  from  the  water.  Over  his  face  he  had  a  brown 
thing  fixed  like  the  front  of  a  fiddle  with  holes  cut  through 
it,  and  something  I  could  not  make  out  was  strapped  un- 
der one  of  his  arms  like  a  holster. 

"  '  Just  you  look  here,  man,  and  look  at  nothing  else,  or 
it  will  be  worse  for  you.  Bring  your  hammer  and  pin- 
cers while  I  show  a  light.' 

"  l  Let  me  light  a  lantern,  sir,'  I  said,  as  well  as  I  could 
speak  for  shivering ;  *  if  it  is  a  shoeing  job  I  must  see 
what  I  am  about.' 

"  '  Do  what  I  say,  blacksmith,  or  I'll  squash  you  under 
your  anvil.' 

"  He  could  have  done  it  as  soon  as  looked ;  and  I  can't 
tell  you  how  I  put  my  apron  on  and  rose  the  step  out  of 
the  shop  after  him.  He  had  got  a  little  case  of  light  in  one 
hand,  such  as  I  never  saw  before,  all  black  when  he  chose, 
but  as  light  as  the  sun  whenever  he  chose  to  flash  it,  and 
he  flashed  it  suddenly  into  my  eyes,  so  that  I  jumped 
back  like  a  pig  before  the  knife.  But  he  caught  me  by 
the  arm  where  you  see  this  big  blue  mark,  and  handed  me 
across  the  road  like  that. 

"  '  Blast  the  horse  !    Put  his  rotten  foot  right/  he  says. 


68  PERLYCROSS 

And  sure  enough  there  was  a  fine  nag  before  me,  quaking 
and  shaking  with  pain  and  fright,  and  dancing  his  near 
fore-foot  in  the  air,  like  a  Christian  disciple  with  a  bad  fit 
of  the  gout. 

"  That  made  me  feel  a  bit  like  myself  again,  for  there 
never  was  no  harm  in  a  horse,  and  you  always  know  what 
you  are  speaking  to.  I  took  his  poor  foot  gently,  as  if 
I  had  kid  gloves  on,  and  he  put  his  frothy  lips  into  ray 
whiskers,  as  if  he  had  found  a  friend  at  last. 

"The  big  man  threw  the  light  upon  the  poor  thing's 
foot,  and  it  was  oozing  with  blood  and  black  stuff  like  tar. 

'  What  a  d fuss  he  makes  about  nothing !'  says  the  man, 

or  the  brute  I  should  call  him,  that  stood  behind  me.  But  I 
answered  him  quite  spirity,  for  the  poor  thing  was  trying 

to  lick  my  hand  with  thankfulness,  *  You'd  make  a  d der 

if  it  was  your  foot,'  I  said ;  « he  hath  got  a  bit  of  iron 
driven  right  up  through  his  frog.  Have  him  out  of  shafts. 
He  isn't  fit  to  go  no  farther.'  For  I  saw  that  he  had  a  light 
spring-cart  behind  him,  with  a  tarpaulin  tucked  in  along 
the  rails. 

"  '  Do  him  where  he  stands,  or  I'll  knock  your  brains 
out,'  said  the  fellow,  pushing  in  so  as  to  keep  me  from  the 
cart.  *  Jem,  stand  by  his  head.  So,  steady,  steady.' 

"  As  I  stooped  to  feel  my  pincers  I  caught  just  a 
glimpse  under  the  nag's  ribs  of  a  man  on  his  off-side 
with  black  clothes  on,  a  short,  square  man,  so  far  as  I  could 
tell ;  but  he  never  spoke  a  word,  and  seemed  ever  so  much 
more  afraid  to  show  himself  than  the  big  fellow  was, 
though  he  was  shy  enough.  Then  I  got  a  good  gripe  on 
the  splinter  of  the  shoe,  which  felt  to  me  more  like  steel 
than  iron,  and  pulled  it  out  steadily  and  smoothly  as  I 
could,  and  a  little  flow  of  blood  came  after  it.  Then  the 
naggie  put  his  foot  down,  very  tenderly  at  first,  the  same 
as  you  put  down  an  overfilled  pint. 

"  *  Gee-wugg's  the  word  now,'  says  the  big  man  to  the 
other,  and  sorry  I  am  to  my  dying  bones  that  I  stopped 
them  from  doing  it.  But  I  felt  somehow  too  curious 
through  the  thicket  of  my  fright,  and  wise  folks  say  that 
the  Lord  hath  anger  with  men  that  sleep  too  heartily. 

"  l  Bide  a  bit,'  I  told  him,  « till  I  kill  the  inflammation, 
or  he  won't  go  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before  he  drops ;'  and 


THE    POTATO-FIELD  69 

before  he  could  stop  me  I  ran  back  and  blew  up  a  merry 
little  blaze  in  the  shop  as  if  to  make  search  for  something ; 
and  then  out  I  came  again  with  a  bottle  in  my  hand, 
and  the  light  going  nickering  across  the  road.  The  big 
man  stood  across,  as  if  to  hide  the  cart,  but  the  man  be- 
hind the  horse  skitted  back  into  a  bush  very  nimble  and 
clever,  but  not  quite  smart  enough. 

"The  pretty  nag  —  for  he  was  a  pretty  one  and  kind, 
and  now  I  could  swear  to  him  anywhere  —  was  twitching 
his  bad  foot  up  and  down  as  if  to  ask  how  it  was  getting 
on ;  and  I  got  it  in  my  hand,  and  he  gave  it  like  a  lamb, 
while  I  poured  in  a  little  of  the  stuff  I  always  keep  ready 
for  their  troubles  when  they  have  them  so,  For  the 
moment  I  was  bold,  in  the  sense  of  knowing  something, 
and  called  out  to  the  man  I  was  so  mortal  frit  of  —  '  Mas- 
ter, just  lend  a  hand  for  a  second,  will  you  ?  Stand  at  his 
head  in  case  it  stingeth  him  a  bit.'  Horse  was  tossing  of 
his  head  a  little,  and  the  chap  came  round  me  and  took 
him  by  the  nose,  the  same  as  he  had  squeezed  me  by  the 
arm. 

" '  I  must  have  one  hind-foot  up,  or  he  will  bolt,'  says 
I — though  the  Lord  knows  that  was  nonsense — and  I 
slipped  along  the  shaft,  and  put  my  hand  inside  the 
wheel,  and  twitched  up  the  tarpaulin  that  was  tucked  be- 
low the  rail.  At  the  risk  of  my  life  it  was ;  and  I  knew 
that  much,  although  I  was  out  of  the  big  man's  sight. 
And  what  think  you  I  saw  in  the  flickering  of  the  light? 
A  flicker  it  was,  like  the  lick  of  a  tongue,  but  it's  bound 
to  abide  as  long  as  I  do.  As  sure  as  I  am  a  living  sinner, 
what  I  saw  was  a  dead  man's  shroud.  Soft  and  delicate 
and  white  it  was,  like  the  fine  linen  that  Dives  wore,  and 
frilled  with  rare  lace,  like  a  wealthy  baby's  christening; 
no  poor  man,  even  in  the  world  to  come,  could  afford  him- 
self such  a  winding-sheet.  Tamsin  Tamlin's  work  it  was ; 
the  very  same  that  we  saw  in  her  window,  and  you  know 
what  that  was  bought  for.  What  there  was  inside  of  it 
was  left  for  me  to  guess. 

"  I  had  just  time  to  tuck  the  tarpaulin  back  when  the 
big  man  comes  at  me  with  his  light  turned  on.  *  What 

the are  you  doing  with  that  wheel  ?'  says  he,  and  he 

caught  me  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck  and  swung  me  across 


70  PEELYCROSS 

the  road  with  one  hand  and  into  my  shop,  like  a  sack 
with  the  corn  shot  out  of  it.  '  Down  on  your  knees !'  he 
said,  with  no  call  to  say  it,  for  my  legs  were  gone  from 
under  me,  and  I  sprawled  against  my  own  dipping- 
trough,  and  looked  up  to  be  brained  with  my  own  big 
hammer.  *  No  need  for  that,'  he  saith,  for  he  saw  me 
glancing  at  it ;  '  my  fist  would  be  enough  for  a  slip  such 
as  you.  But  you  be  a  little  too  peart,  Master  Smith. 
What  right  have  you  to  call  a  pair  of  honest  men  sheep- 
stealers  ?' 

"  I  was  so  astonished  that  I  could  not  answer,  for  the 
thought  of  that  had  never  come  nigh  me.  But  I  may 
have  said  '  Shish — shish  !'  to  soothe  the  nag ;  and  if  I  did 
it  saved  my  life,  I  reckon. 

"  *  Now  swear,  as  you  hope  to  be  saved,'  says  he,  '  that 
never  a  word  shall  pass  your  lips  about  this  here  little 
job  to-night.'  I  swore  it  by  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and 
John ;  but  I  knew  that  I  never  could  stick  to  it.  '  You 
break  it,'  says  he,  *  and  I'll  burn  you  in  your  bed,  and 
every  soul  that  belongs  to  you.  Here's  your  dibs,  black- 
smith !  I  always  pay  handsome.'  He  flung  me  a  crown  of 
King  George  and  the  dragon,  and  before  I  could  get  up 
again  the  cart  was  gone  away. 

"  Now,  I  give  you  my  word,  Farmer  Hornder,  and  the 
very  same  to  you,  Clerk  Channing,  it  was  no  use  of  me  to 
go  to  bed  again,  and  there  never  was  a  nightcap  would 
stay  on  my  head  without  double-webbing  girths  to  it. 
By  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  I  found  a  thimbleful  of  gin, 
and  then  I  roused  up  light  enough  to  try  to  make  it 
cheerful ;  and  down  comes  Sally,  like  a  faithful  wife,  to 
find  out  whatever  I  was  up  to.  You  may  trust  me  for 
telling  her  a  cock-and-bull  affair;  for  'twas  no  woman's 
business,  and  it  might  have  killed  the  baby." 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  NARROW  PATH 

"  Now,  Master  Joe  Crang,"  the  church-warden  said, 
firmly,  but  not  quite  as  sternly  as  he  meant  to  put  it, 
because  he  met  the  blacksmith's  eyes  coming  out  of  his 
head,  "  how  are  we  to  know  that  you  have  not  told  us 
what  you  call  a  cock-and-bull  affair?  Like  enough  you 
had  a  very  fearsome  dream,  after  listening  to  a  lot  about 
those  resurrection  men,  and  running  home  at  night  with 
the  liquor  in  your  head." 

"Go  and  see  my  door  a -hanging  on  the  hinges, 
master,  and  the  mark  of  the  big  man's  feet  in  the  pilm, 
and  the  track  of  wheels  under  the  hedge,  and  the 
blood  from  the  poor  nag's  frog,  and  the  splinter  of  shoe 
I  pulled  out  with  the  pincers.  But  mercy  upon  me,  I  be 
mazed  almost !  I  forgot,  I  put  the  iron  in  my  pocket. 
Here  it  is !" 

There  it  was  sure  enough,  with  dried  blood  on  the  jag 
of  it,  and  the  dint  from  a  stone  which  had  driven  it  like  a 
knife  through  an  oyster -shell  into  the  quick.  Such  is 
the  nature  of  human  faith  that  the  men  handling  this 
were  convinced  of  every  word.  They  looked  at  each 
other  silently,  and  shook  their  heads  with  one  accord, 
and  gave  the  shivering  blacksmith  another  draught  of 
cider. 

"  Joe,  I  beg  your  pardon  for  doubting  of  your  word," 
Farmer  John  answered,  as  his  own  terror  grew  ;  "  you 
have  been  through  a  most  awesome  night.  But  tell  us  a 
thing  or  two  you  have  left  out.  What  way  do  you  reckon 
the  cart  came  from,  and  what  was  the  colour,  and  was 
there  any  name  on  it,  and  by  the  sound  which  way  did 
it  drive  off  ?" 

"  Aye,  aye,  he  hath  hit  it,"  the  clerk  chimed  in ;  "  the 


72  PEKLYCKOSS 

finest  head-piece  in  all  the  county  belongeth  to  the  hat  of 
our  Master  John  Homer." 

"  I'll  tell  'e  every  blessed  thing  I  knows,  but  one,"  Joe 
Crang  was  growing  braver,  after  handing  horrors  on ; 
"  can't  say  which  way  the  cart  come  from,  because  I  was 
sound  in  my  bed  just  then.  But  her  hadn't  been  through 
the  ford,  by  the  look  of  wheels,  and  so  it  seems  her  must 
have  come  from  Perlycrass  direction.  The  colour  was 
dark*,  I  should  say  a  reddish-brown,  so  far  as  the  light 
supported  me.  There  was  no  name  to  see ;  but  I  was  on 
her  near  side,  and  the  name  would  be  t'other  side,  of 
course,  if  there  wur  one.  Her  drove  off  the  way  her  was 
standing,  I  believe ;  at  least,  according  to  the  sound  of  it; 
and  I  should  have  heard  the  splash  if  they  had  driven 
through  the  ford.  Any  other  questions,  master  ?" 

"  There  may  be  some  more,  Joe,  when  I  come  to  think. 
But  I  don't  see  clearly  how  you  could  have  been  on  the 
near  side  of  horse,  to  the  other  side  of  lane,  in  case  they 
were  coming  from  our  village  way." 

"  You'm  right  enough  there,  sir,  if  so  be  they  hadn't 
turned.  I  could  see  by  the  marks  that  they  went  by  my 
shop,  and  then  turned  the  poor  horse,  who  was  glad 
enough  to  stop ;  and  then  bided  under  hedge  in  a  sort  of 
dark  cornder.  Might  a'  come  down  the  lane  a'  purpose 
like,  seeking  of  me  to  do  the  job.  Seemeth  as  if  they 
had  heard  of  my  shop,  but  not  ezactually  where  it  waz." 

"  When  you  come  to  think  of  it,  it  might  be  so."  Farmer 
John  was  pretty  safe  in  his  conclusions,  because  they 
never  hurried  him.  "  And  if  that  was  the  meaning,  we 
should  all  have  reason  to  be  very  joyful,  Joe.  You  cannot 
see  it  yet,  nor  even  Master  Channing.  But  to  my  mind 
it  proveth  that  the  chaps  in  this  queer  job — mind,  I  don't 
say  but  what  they  may  have  been  respectable,  and  driving 
about  because  they  could  afford  it  —  but  to  my  mind  it 
showeth  they  were  none  of  our  own  parish.  Nor  next 
parish  either,  so  far  as  reason  goes.  Every  child  in  Perly- 
cross  with  legs  to  go  on  knows  afore  his  alphabet  where 
Susscot  forge  be." 

"A'  knoweth  it  too  well,  afore  he  gets  his  breeches. 
Three-quarters  of  a  mile  makes  no  odds  to  they  childer, 
when  they  take  it  in  their  heads  to  come  playing  with  the 


E. 


THE    NABBOW   PATH  73 

sparks.  And  then  their  mothers  after  'em,  and  all  the 
blame  on  me !" 

"  It  is  the  way  of  human  nature  when  it  is  too  young. 
Master  Clerk,  a  word  with  you  before  we  go  too  far.  Sit 
down  upon  this  sack,  Joe,  and  try  to  eat  a  bit  while  the 
wiser  heads  be  considering." 

The  church-warden  took  the  ancient  clerk  aside,  and  the 
blacksmith,  beginning  to  be  in  better  heart,  renewed  his 
faith  in  human  nature  upon  bread  and  bacon. 

Before  he  was  sure  that  he  had  finished,  the  elder  twain 
came  back  to  him,  fortified  by  each  other's  sense  of  right 
and  high  position  in  the  parish.  But  Channing  was  to 
ut  the  questions  now,  because  they  were  unpleasant,  and 
e  was  poor. 

"  According  to  my  opinion,  Master  Crang,  you  have 
told  us  everything  wonderful  clear,  as  clear  as  if  we  had 
been  there  to  see  it,  considering  of  the  time  of  night. 
But  still  there  is  one  thing  you've  kept  behind,  casually, 
perhaps,  and  without  any  harm.  But  Church-warden  Hor- 
ner  saith,  and  everybody  knows  the  value  of  his  opinion, 
that  the  law  is  such  that  every  subject  of  the  King,  what- 
ever his  own  opinion  may  be,  hath  to  give  it  the  upper 
course,  and  do  no  more  harm  than  grumble." 

"  Big  or  little,  old  or  young,  male  or  female,  no  dis- 
tinction, baronet  or  blacksmith,"  said  Farmer  John,  im- 
pressively. 

"  And  therefore,  Joe,  in  bounden  duty  we  must  put  the 
question  and  you  must  answer.  Who  was  the  man,  ac- 
cording to  your  judgment,  that  kept  so  close  behind  the 
horse,  and  jumped  away  so  suddenlike  when  the  light  of 
your  fire  shone  into  the  lane  ?  You  said  that  the  big  man 
called  him  'Jem/  and  you  as  good  as  told  us  that  you 
certified  his  identity." 

"  I  don't  understand  'e,  Master  Channing.  I  never  was 
no  hand  at  big  words."  The  blacksmith  began  to  edge 
away  till  the  farmer  took  the  old  man's  staff  and  hooked 
him  by  the  elbow. 

"  No  lies,  Crang  !  You  know  me  pretty  well.  I  am 
not  the  man  to  stand  nonsense.  Out  of  this  potato-field 
you  don't  budge  till  you've  told  us  who  the  short  man 


74  PEELYCKOSS 

"  A*  worn't  short,  sir ;  a'  worn't  short  at  all — taller  than 
I  be,  I  reckon  ;  but  nort  to  what  the  other  were.  Do  'e 
let  go  of  me,  Farmer  Hornder.  How  could  I  see  the  man 
through  the  nag  ?" 

"  That's  your  own  business,  Crang.  See  him  you  did. 
Horse  or  no  horse,  you  saw  the  man  ;  and  you  knew  him, 
and  you  were  astonished.  Who  was  he,  if  you  please, 
Master  Joseph  Crang  ?" 

"I  can't  tell  'e,  sir,  if  I  was  to  drop  down  dead  this 
minute.  And  if  I  said  ort  to  make  'e  vancy  that  I 
knowed  the  gentleman,  I  must  a'  been  mazed  as  a  drum- 
meldrone." 

"  Oh,  a  gentleman,  was  it  ?  A  queer  place  for  a  gentle- 
man !  No  wonder  you  cockle  yourself  to  keep  it  dark. 
A  five-pound  note  to  be  made  out  of  that,  Joe  ;  if  the 
officers  of  justice  was  agreeable." 

"  Master  Hornder,  you'm  a  rich  man  and  I  be  but  a 
poor  one.  I  wouldn't  like  to  say  that  you  behaved  below 
yourself  by  means  of  what  I  thought,  without  knowing 
more  than  vancy." 

"  Joe,  you  are  right  and  I  was  wrong" — the  farmer  was 
a  just  man  whenever  he  caught  sight  of  it ;  "  I  was  agoing 
to  terrify  of  'e,  according  to  the  orders  of  the  evil-thinkers, 
that  can't  believe  good  because  it  bain't  inside  theirselves. 
But  I  put  it  to  you  now,  Joe,  as  a  bit  of  dooty,  and  it 
must  tell  up  for  you  in  t'other  way  as  well.  For  the  sake 
of  all  good  Christians,  and  the  peace  of  this  here  parish, 
you  be  held  to  bail  by  your  own  conscience,  the  Lord 
having  placed  you  in  that  position,  to  tell  us  the  full 
names  of  this  man,  gentleman  or  ploughboy,  gypsy  or 
home-liver." 

The  blacksmith  was  watching  Mr.  Homer's  eyes,  and 
saw  not  a  shadow  of  relenting.  Then  he  turned  to  the 
old  man  for  appeal.  But  the  clerk,  with  the  wisdom  of 
fourscore  years,  said,  "  Truth  goes  the  furthest.  Who 
would  go  to  jail  for  you,  Joe  ?" 

"  Mind  that  you  wouldn't  give  me  no  peace,  and  that  I 
says  it  against  my  will,  under  fear  of  the  King  and  re- 
ligion," Master  Crang  protested,  with  a  twist,  as  if  a  clod- 
crusher  went  over  him ;  "  likewise  that  I  look  to  you  to 
bear  me  harmless,  as  a  man  who  speaketh  doubtful  of  the 


THE   NAEKOW   PATH  75 

sight  of  his  own  eyes.  But  unless  they  was  wrong-  and 
misguided  by  the  devil,  who  were  abroad  last  night  and 
no  mistake,  t'other  man — in  the  flesh  or  out  of  it,  and  a' 
might  very  well  a'  been  out  of  it  upon  such  occasion,  and 
with  that  there  thing  behind  him,  and  they  say  that  the 
devil  doth  get  into  a  bush,  as  my  own  grandmother  zee'd 
he  once — 'twixt  a  rosemary-tree,  which  goes  far  to  prove 
it,  being  the  very  last  a'  would  have  chosen — " 

"None  of  that  stuff!"  cried  the  church-warden,  sternly; 
and  the  clerk  said,  "  No  beating  about  the  bush,  Joe  !  as 
if  us  didn't  know  all  the  tricks  of  Zatan  !" 

"  Well,  then,  I  tell  'e— it  waz  Dr.  Jemmy  Vox." 

They  both  stood  and  stared  at  him,  as  if  to  ask  whether 
his  brain  was  out  of  order  or  their  own  ears.  But  he  met 
their  gaze  steadily,  and  grew  more  positive  on  the  strength 
of  being  doubted. 

"  If  ever  I  zee'd  a  living  man,  I  tell  'e  that  man,  t'other 
side  of  the  nag,  waz  Dr.  Jemmy  Vox,  and  no  other 
man." 

The  men  of  Devon  have  earned  their  place  (and  to  their 
own  knowledge  the  foremost  one)  in  the  records  of  this 
country,  by  taking  their  time  about  what  they  do,  and 
thinking  of  a  thing  before  they  say  it.  Shallow  folk, 
having  none  of  this  gift,  are  apt  to  denounce  it  as  slowness 
of  brain,  and  even  to  become  impatient  with  the  sage 
deliberators. 

Both  Horner  and  Channing  had  excellent  reasons  for 
thinking  very  highly  of  Dr.  Fox — the  church-warden,  be- 
cause the  doctor  had  saved  the  life  of  his  pet  child,  Sally, 
under  Providence  ;  and  the  clerk,  inasmuch  as  he  had  the 
privilege  of  making  the  gentleman's  trousers  for  working 
and  for  rustic  use. 

"  Now  I  tell  'e  what  it  is,"  said  Farmer  John,  looking 
wrathful,  because  he  saw  nothing  else  to  do,  and  Channing 
shrank  back  from  doing  anything,  "  either  thou  art  a  born 
liar,  Joe,  or  the  devil  hath  gotten  hold  of  thee." 

"  That's  the  very  thing  I  been  afeard  of ;  but  would  un 
let  me  spake  the  truth  without  contempt  of  persons  ?" 

"  Will  'e  stand  to  it,  Joe,  afore  a  justice  of  the  peace  ?" 
The  clerk  thought  it  was  high  time  to  put  in  a  word. 
"  Upon  occasion,  I  mean,  and  if  the  law  requireth." 


76  PERLYCEOSS 

"  There  now  ;  look  at  that !  The  right  thing  cometh 
soon  or  late !"  cried  the  persecuted  blacksmith.  "  Take 
me  afore  Squire  Walders  himself — no,  no ;  can't  be,  con- 
siderin'  I  were  at  his  funeral  yesterday.  Well,  take  me 
afore  Squire  Mockham,  if  be  fitty,  and  ax  of  him  to 
put,  I  don't  care  what  it  be,  stocks,  or  dead-water,  or 
shears  atop  of  me,  and  I'll  tell  un  the  very  zame  words  I 
telled  to  thee.  Can't  hev  no  relief  from  gospel  if  the 
passon's  by  the  heels ;  shall  have  some  relief  by  law  if 
the  Lord  hath  left  it  living.  No  man  can't  spake  no  vairer 
than  that  there  be." 

This  adjuration  was  of  great  effect.  "  To  Zeiser  shalt 
thou  go !"  replied  the  senior  church-warden  ;  us  have  no 
right  to  take  the  matter  out  of  Zeiser's  hands.  I  was 
dwelling  in  my  mind  of  that  all  along,  and  so  was  you, 
clerk." 

Mr.  Channing  nodded,  with  his  conscience  coming  for- 
ward, and,  after  some  directions  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
field,  where  the  men  had  been  taking  it  easily,  and  the 
women  putting  heads  together,  the  two  authorities  set  off 
along  the  lane,  with  the  witness  between  them,  towards 
Perly  cross. 

But,  as  if  they  had  not  had  enough  of  excitement  to  last 
them  for  a  month  of  thoughts  and  words,  no  sooner  did 
they  turn  the  corner  at  the  four  .cross-roads  (where  the 
rectory  stands,  with  the  school  across  the  way)  than  they 
came  full  butt  upon  a  wondrous  crowd  of  people  hurrying 
from  the  church-yard. 

"  Never  heard  the  like  of  it !"  "  Can't  believe  my  eyes 
a'most."  "  Whatever  be  us  acoming  to  ?"  "  The  Lord 
in  heaven  have  mercy  on  the  dead  !"  "  The  blessed  dead 
as  can't  help  theirselves  ?" 

These,  and  wilder  cries,  and  shrieks  from  weeping  wom- 
en along  the  cottage-fronts ;  while  in  the  middle  of  the 
street  came  slowly  men  with  hot  faces  and  stern  eyes. 
Foremost  of  all  was  Sergeant  Jakes,  with  his  head  thrown 
back,  and  his  gray  locks  waving  and  his  visage  as  hard  as 
when  he  scaled  the  ramparts  and  leaped  into  the  smoke 
and  sword-flash.  Behind  him  was  a  man  upon  a  foaming 
horse,  and  the  strength  of  the  village  fiercely  silent. 

"  Where  be  all  agoing  to  ?     What's  up  now  ?     Can't 


THE    NARROW    PATH  77 

any  of  'e  spake  a  word  of  sense  ?"  cried  Farmer  John,  as 
the  crowd  stopped  short,  and  formed  a  ring  around  him. 

"  High  Jarks,  tell  un." 

"  Us  was  going  to  your  house." 

"  Hold  your  tongue,  will  'e,  and  let  High  Jarks  speak." 

The  sergeant  took  discipline,  and  told  his  tale  in  a 
few  strong  words,  which  made  the  farmer's  hair  stand  up. 

"  Let  me  see  the  proof,"  was  all  he  said  ;  for  his  brain 
was  going  round,  being  still  unseasoned  to  any  whirl 
fiercer  than  rotation  of  farm-crops.  All  the  others  fell 
behind  him,  with  that  sense  of  order  which  still  swayed 
the  impulse  of  an  English  crowd ;  for  he  was  now  the 
foremost  layman  in  the  parish,  and  everybody  knew  that 
the  parson  was  laid  up.  The  gloom  of  some  black  deed 
fell  upon  them,  and  they  passed  along  the  street  like  a 
funeral. 

"  Clap  the  big  gate  to,  and  shoot  the  iron  bar  across. 
No  tramping  inside  more  than  hath  been  a'ready." 

Master  Homer  gave  this  order,  and  it  was  obeyed  even 
by  those  who  excluded  themselves.  At  the  west  end, 
round  the  tower,  was  a  group  of  "  foreign  "  workmen,  as 
the  artisans  from  Exeter  were  called,  but  under  orders 
from  Mr.  Adney  they  held  back,  and  left  the  parish  mat- 
ter to  the  natives  thereof. 

"  Now  come  along  with  me,  the  men  I  call  for,"  com- 
manded the  church-warden,  with  his  hand  upon  the  bars, 
as  he  rose  to  the  authority  conferred  upon  him ;  "  and 
they  be  Sergeant  Jakes,  Clerk  Channing,  Bob,  that  hath 
ridden  from  Walderscourt,  and  Constable  Tapscott,  if  so 
be  he  hath  arrived." 

"  I  be  here,  sure  enough,  and  my  staff  along  o'  me — 
hath  the  pictur'  of  His  Majesty  upon  him.  Make  way, 
wull  'e,  for  the  officer  of  the  King  ?" 

Then  these  men,  all  in  a  cold  sweat,  more  or  less — ex- 
cept Sergeant  Jakes,  who  was  in  a  hot  one — backing  up 
one  another,  took  the  narrow  path  which  branched  to  the 
right  from  the  church-yard  cross,  to  the  corner  where 
brave  Colonel  Waldron  had  been  laid. 


CHAPTER    X 
IN   CHARGE 

"  MY  young  friend,  I  must  get  up !"  Mr.  Penniloe  ex- 
claimed, if  so  feeble  a  sound  could  be  called  an  exclama- 
tion. "  It  is  useless  to  talk  about  my  pulse  and  look  so 
wise.  Here  have  I  been  perhaps  three  days ;  I  am  not 
quite  certain,  but  it  must  be  that.  And  who  is  there  to 
see  to  the  parish,  or  even  the  service  of  the  Church,  while 
I  lie  like  this  ?  It  was  most  kind  of  you — I  have  sense 
enough  to  feel  it — to  hurry  from  your  long  ride,  without 
a  bit  to  eat ;  Mrs.  Muggridge  said  as  much,  and  you  could 
not  deny  it.  But  up  I  must  get,  and  more  than  that,  I 
must  get  out.  It  will  soon  be  dark  again,  by  the  shadows 
on  the  blind,  and  I  am  sure  that  there  is  something  gone 
amiss — I  know  not  what.  But  my  duty  is  to  know  it 
and  to  see  what  I  can  do.  Now  go  and  have  some  din- 
ner while  I  just  put  on  my  clothes." 

"  Nothing  of  that  sort,  sir,  will  you  do  to-day.  You 
are  weaker  than  a  cat — as  that  stupid  saying  goes.  That 
idiot  Jackson  has  bled  you  to  a  skeleton,  put  a  seton  in 
your  neck  and  starved  you.  And  he  has  plied  you  with 
drastics  by  day  and  by  night.  Why,  the  moment  I  heard 
of  that  Perliton  booby  getting  you  in  his  clutches — but 
thank  God  I  was  in  time !  It  is  almost  enough  to  make 
one  believe  in  special  Providences." 

"  Hush,  Jemmy,  hush  !  you  cannot  want  to  vex  me 
now." 

"  Neither  now  nor  ever,  sir ;  as  you  are  well  aware. 
So  you  must  do  likewise  and  not  vex  me.  I  have  trouble 
enough  of  my  own,  without  rebellion  by  my  patients." 

"  I  forgot  that,  Jemmy.  It  was  not  kind  of  me.  But 
I  am  not  quite  clear  in  my  head  just  now.  I  fear  I  am 
neglecting  some  great  duty ;  but,  just  for  the  moment,  I 


IN   CHARGE  79 

am  not  sure  what  it  is.  In  a  minute  or  two  I  shall  re- 
member what  it  is." 

"  No,  you  won't,  my  good  friend,  not  for  twenty  hours 
yet,"  the  young  doctor  whispered  to  himself.  "  You  have 
had  a  narrow  shave,  and  another  day  of  Jackson  would 
have  sent  you  to  the  world  you  think  too  much  of. 
There  never  was  a  man  who  dwelt  in  shadows,  or  in 
glory  as  you  take  it,  with  his  whole  great  heart  as  you 
do.  Well,  I  wish  there  were  more  of  them,  and  that  I 
could  just  be  one." 

The  peace  that  had  settled  on  the  parson's  face  was 
such  as  no  lineaments  of  man  can  win  without  the  large 
labours  of  a  pure  life  past,  and  the  surety  of  recompense 
full  in  view.  Fox  kept  his  eye  on  him,  and  found  his 
pulse  improve,  as  hovering  slumber  deepened  into  tran- 
quil sleep.  "  Rare  stuff  that !"  he  said,  referring  not  to 
faith,  but  to  a  little  vial-bottle  he  had  placed  upon  the 
drawers  ;  "  he  sha'n't  go  to  glory  yet,  however  fit  he  may 
be.  It  is  high  time,  I  take  it,  for  me  to  have  a  little 
peck." 

The  young  man  was  right.  He  had  ridden  thirty  miles 
from  his  father's  house  that  afternoon,  and  hearing  at  the 
"  Old  Barn,"  as  he  called  his  present  home,  of  poor  Mr. 
Penniloe's  serious  illness,  had  mounted  his  weary  mare 
again,  and  spurred  her  back  to  the  rectory.  Of  the  story 
with  which  all  the  parish  was  ringing  he  had  not  heard  a 
word  as  yet,  being  called  away  by  his  anxious  mother  on 
the  very  night  after  the  squire  was  buried.  But  one 
thing  had  puzzled  him,  as  he  passed  and  repassed  the 
quiet  streets  of  Perlycross — the  people  looked  at  him  as 
if  he  were  a  stranger,  and  whispered  to  one  another  as  he 
trotted  by.  Could  they  have  known  what  had  happened 
to  his  father  ? 

With  the  brown  tops  still  upon  his  sturdy  legs,  and 
spurs  thickly  clotted  with  Somerset  mud  (crustier  even 
than  that  of  Devon),  Fox  left  the  bedroom  with  the  door 
ajar,  and  found  little  Fay  in  a  beehive-chair,  kneeling, 
with  her  palms  put  together  on  the  back,  and  striving 
hard  to  pray,  but  disabled  by  deep  sobs.  Her  lovely 
little  cheeks  and  thick  bright  curls  were  dabbled  into  one 
another  by  the  flood  of  tears,  as  a  moss-rose,  after  a 


80  PEELYCRO8S 

thunder-shower,  has  its  petals  tangled  in  the  broidery  of 
its  sheath. 

"  Will  he  die,  because  I  am  so  wicked  ?  Will  he  die, 
because  I  cannot  see  the  face  of  God  ?"  she  was  whisper- 
ing, with  streaming  eyes  intent  upon  the  skylight,  as  if 
she  were  looking  for  a  healthy  Father  there. 

"  No,  my  little  darling,  he  will  not  die  at  all.  Not  for 
many  years,  I  mean,  when  Fay  is  a  great,  tall  woman.". 

The  child  turned  round  with  a  flash  of  sudden  joy,  and 
leaped  into  his  arms  and  flung  her  hair  upon  his  shoul- 
ders and  kissed  him  vehemently, 

"With  a  one,  two,  three! 
If  your  want  any  more,  you  must  kiss  me," 

like  a  true,  tiny  queen  of  the  nursery.  Many  little  girls 
were  very  fond  of  Dr.  Fox,  although  their  pretty  loves 
might  end  in  a  sombre  potion. 

"  Now  shall  I  tell  you  what  to  do,  my  dear  ?"  said  the 
truly  starving  doctor,  with  the  smell  of  fine  chops  coming 
up  the  stairs,  sweeter  than  even  riper  lips;  "you  want  to 
help  your  dear  daddy,  don't  you  ?" 

Little  Fay  nodded,  for  her  heart  was  full  again, 
and  the  heel-tap  of  a  sob  would  have  been  behind  her 
words. 

"  Then  go  in  very  quietly  and  sit  upon  that  chair,  and 
don't  make  any  noise,  even  with  your  hair.  Keep  the 
door  as  it  is,  or  a  little  wider ;  and  never  take  your  eyes 
from  your  dear  father's  face.  If  he  keeps  on  sleeping, 
you  stay  quiet  as  a  mouse ;  if  he  opens  his  eyes,  slip  out 
softly  and  tell  me.  Now  you  understand  all  that,  but  you 
must  not  say  a  word." 

The  child  was  gazing  at  him  with  her  whole  soul  in  her 
eyes,  and  her  red  lips  working  up  and  down  across  her 
teeth,  as  if  her  father's  life  hung  upon  her  self-control. 
Dr.  Fox  was  hard  put  to  it  to  look  the  proper  gravity.  As 
if  he  would  have  put  this  little  thing  in  charge  if  there 
had  been  any  real  charge  in  it! 

"  Grand  is  the  faith  of  childhood.  What  a  pity  it  gets 
rubbed  out  so  soon !"  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  went 
down  the  stairs,  and  the  child  crept  into  her  father's 


IN    CHARGE  81 

room  as  if  the  whole  world  hung  upon  her  pretty  little 
head. 

Mrs.  Muggridge  had  lighted  two  new  candles,  of  a  size 
considered  gigantic  then — for  eight  of  them  weighed  a 
pound  almost ;  and  not  only  that,  but  also  of  materials 
scarcely  yet  accepted  as  orthodox.  For  "  composites  " 
was  their  name,  and  their  nature  was  neither  sound  tallow 
nor  steadfast  wax.  Grocer  Wood  had  sent  them  upon 
trial  gratis ;  but  he  was  a  Dissenter,  though  a  godly  man  ; 
and  the  house -keeper,  being  a  convert  to  the  Church, 
was  not  at  all  sure  that  they  would  not  blow  up.  There- 
fore she  lit  them  first  for  Dr.  Fox,  as  a  hardy  young  man 
with  some  knowledge  of  mixtures. 

"  He  is  going  on  famously,  as  well  as  can  be,  Mug- 
gridge," the  doctor  replied  to  her  anxious  glance.  "  He 
will  not  wake  till  twelve  or  one  o'clock  to-morrow,  and 
then  I  shall  be  here,  if  possible.  The  great  point  then  will 
be  to  feed  him  well.  Beef-tea  and  arrow-root  every  two 
hours,  with  a  little  port-wine  in  the  arrow-root.  No  port- 
wine  in  the  house  ?  Then  I  will  send  some  that  came 
from  my  father's  own  cellar.  Steal  all  his  clothes  and  keep 
a  female  in  the  room.  The  parson  is  a  modest  man  and 
that  will  keep  him  down.  But  here  comes  my  mutton- 
chop.  Well  done,  Susanna !  What  a  cook !  What  skill 
and  science  at  the  early  age  of  ten !" 

This  was  one  of  Dr.  Jemmy's  little  jokes ;  for  he  knew 
that  Susanna  was  at  least  seventeen,  and  had  not  a  vestige 
of  cookery.  But  a  doctor,  like  a  sexton,  must  be  jolly, 
and  leave  the  gravity  to  the  middleman — the  parson. 

But  instead  of  cutting  in  with  her  usual  protest  and 
claim  to  the  triumph,  whatever  it  might  be,  Mrs.  Mug- 
gridge, to  his  surprise,  held  back,  and  considered  his 
countenance  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  door.  She 
had  always  been  ready  with  her  tit  for  tat,  or  lifting  of 
her  hand  in  soft  remonstrance  at  his  youthful  levity.  But 
now  the  good  woman,  from  behind  the  candles,  seemed  to 
want  snuffing  as  they  began  to  do. 

"Anything  gone  wrong  in  Perly cross  since  I  went  away, 

Mrs.  Muggridge?     I  don't  mean  the  great  loss  the  parish 

has  sustained,  or  this  bad  attack  of  Mr.  Penniloe's.    That 

will  be  over  in  a  few  days'  time  now  his  proper  adviser  is 

4* 


82  PERLYCKOSS 

come  back  again.  By-the-way,  if  you  let  Jackson  come 
in  at  this  front  door  —  no,  it  musn't  lie  with  you,  I  will 
write  a  little  note,  polite  but  firm,  as  the  papers  say ;  it 
shall  go  to  his  house  by  my  boy  Jack  to  save  professional 
amenities ;  but  if  he  comes  before  he  gets  it,  meet  him  at 
the  door  with  another,  which  I  will  leave  with  you.  But 
what  makes  you  look  so  glum  at  me,  my  good  woman?  Out 
with  it,  if  I  have  hurt  your  feelings.  You  may  be  sure  that 
I  never  meant  to  do  so." 

"  Oh,  sir,  is  it  possible  that  you  don't  know  what  has 
happened?"  Thyatira  came  forward  with  her  apron  to  her 
eyes.  She  was  very  kind-hearted,  and  liked  this  young 
man ;  but  she  knew  how  young  men  may  be  carried  away, 
especially  when  puffed  up  with  worldly  wisdom. 

"I  have  not  the  least  idea  what  you  mean,  Mrs.  Mug- 
gridge."  Fox  spoke  rather  sternly,  for  his  nature  was 
strong  and  combative  enough  upon  occasion,  though  his 
temper  was  sweet  and  playful ;  and  he  knew  that  many 
lies  had  been  spread  abroad  about  him,  chiefly  by  mem- 
bers of  his  own  profession.  "  My  ears  are  pretty  sharp, 
as  suits  my  name,  and  I  heard  you  muttering  once  or 
twice  — '  He  can't  have  done  it.  I  won't  believe  it  of 
him.'  Now  if  you  please,  what  is  it  I  am  charged  with 
doing?" 

"  Oh,  sir,  you  frighten  me  when  you  look  like  that.  I 
could  never  have  believed  that  you  had  such  eyes." 

"  Never  mind  my  eyes.  Look  here,  my  good  woman, 
would  you  like  to  have  wicked  lies  told  about  you?  I 
have  been  away  for  three  days,  called  suddenly  from 
home  before  daylight  on  Saturday  morning.  My  father 
was  seized  with  a  sudden  attack  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life.  He  is  getting  old ;  and  I  suppose  a  son's  duty  was 
to  go.  Very  well,  I  leave  him  on  Tuesday  morning,  be- 
cause I  have  urgent  cases  here,  and  he  can  do  without 
me.  I  pass  up  the  village  and  everybody  looks  as  if  I  had 
cut  his  throat.  I  go  home,  concluding  that  I  must  be 
mazed — as  you  people  call  it  —  from  want  of  food  and 
sleep.  But  when  I  get  home  my  own  man  and  boy  and 
old  Betty  all  rush  out  and  stare  at  me.  'Are  you  mad?' 
I  call  out,  and  instead  of  answering  they  tell  me  the  par- 
son is  dying  and  at  the  mercy  of  Jervis  Jackson.  I  know 


IN   CHARGE  83 

what  that  means,  and  without  quitting  saddle  come 
back  here  and  rout  the  evil  one.  Then  what  happens  ? 
Why,  my  very  first  mouthful  is  poisoned  by  the  black 
looks  of  a  thoroughly  good  woman.  Tell  me  what  it  is, 
or,  by  George  and  the  Dragon,  I'll  ride  home  and  drag  it 
out  of  my  own  people." 

"  Can  you  prove  you  were  away,  sir  ?  Can  you  show 
when  you  left  home?"  Thyatira  began  to  draw  nearer,  and 
forgot  to  keep  a  full-sized  chair  between  the  doctor  and 
herself. 

"  To  be  sure,  I  can  prove  that  I  have  been  at  Foxden  by 
at  least  a  score  of  witnesses,  if  needful." 

"  Thank  the  Lord  in  heaven  that  he  hath  not  quite  for- 
gotten us !  Susanna,  have  another  plate  hot,  but  be  sure 
you  don't  meddle  with  the  gridiron.  Bad  enough  for 
Perlycross  it  must  be,  anyhow — a  disgrace  the  old  parish 
can  never  get  over ;  but  ever  so  much  better  than  if  you, 
our  own  doctor — " 

"  Good-bye,  Mrs.  Muggridge  ;  you'll  see  me  to-morrow." 

"  Oh  no,  sir,  no.  I  will  tell  you  now  just.  How  could 
I  begin  when  I  thought  you  had  done  it?  At  least,  I 
never  thought  that,  I  am  sure.  But  how  was  I  to  contra- 
dict it  ?  And  the  rudest  thing  ever  done  outside  of 
London !  The  poor  squire's  grave  hath  been  robbed  by 
somebody,  and  all  Perlycross  is  mad  about  it." 

" What !"  cried  Jemmy  Fox;  "do  you  mean  Sir 
Thomas  Waldron  ?  It  cannot  be ;  no  one  would  dare  to 
do  such  a  thing." 

"  But  some  one  hath,  sir,  sure  enough.  Mr.  Jakes  it 
was,  sir,  as  first  found  it  out,  and  a  more  truthfuller  man 
never  lived  in  any  parish.  My  master  doth  not  know  a 
word  of  it  yet.  Thank  the  Lord  almost  for  this  chill  upon 
his  lungs,  for  the  blow  might  have  killed  him  if  he  had 
been  there  with  such  a  disorderly  thing  to  see  to.  We 
must  hide  it  from  him  as  long  as  ever  we  can.  To  tell 
the  truth,  I  was  frightened  to  let  you  go  up  to  him,  with 
every  one  so  positive  about  the  one  who  did  it.  But  you 
wouldn't  take  denial,  and  I  am  very  glad  you  wouldn't. 
But  do  have  t'other  chop,  sir ;  it's  a  better  one  than  this 
was.  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  forgot  to  draw  the  blind 
down." 


84  PERLYCEOSS 

The  truth  was  that  she  had  been  afraid  till  now  to  sever 
herself  from  the  outer  world,  and  had  kept  Susanna  on 
the  kitchen  stairs ;  but  now  she  felt  as  certain  of  the  young 
man's  innocence  as  she  had  been  of  his  guilt  before. 

"  Nothing  more,  thank  you,"  said  Fox,  sitting  back  and 
clinching  his  hand  upon  the  long  bread -knife;  "and  so 
all  the  parish,  and  even  you,  were  only  too  delighted  to 
believe  that  I,  who  have  worked  among  you  nearly  three 
years  now,  chiefly  for  the  good  of  the  poor  and  helpless, 
and  never  taken  sixpence  when  it  was  hard  to  spare — 
that  I  would  rob  the  grave  of  a  man  whom  I  revered  and 
loved  as  if  he  were  my  father !  This  is  what  you  call 
Christianity,  is  it  ?  And  no  one  can  be  saved  except  such 
Christians  as  yourselves  !  The  only  Christian  in  the  parish 
is  your  parson.  Excuse  me  ;  I  have  no  right  to  be  angry 
with — with  a  woman  for  any  want  of  charity.  Come,  tell 
me  this  precious  tale,  and  I'll  forgive  you.  No  doubt  the 
evidence  is  very  strong  against  me." 

Thyatira  was  not  pleased  with  this  way  of  taking  it. 
She  thought  that  the  charity  was  on  her  side  for  accepting 
the  doctor's  own  tale  so  frankly.  So  she  fell  back  upon 
her  main  buttress. 

"  If  you  please,  Dr.  Fox,"  she  said,  with  some  precision, 
"  as  women  be  lacking  in  charity,  therefore  the  foremost 
of  all  godly  graces,  you  might  think  it  fairer  to  see  Ser- 
geant Jakes,  a  military  man  and  upright.  And  being  the 
first  as  he  was  to  discover,  I  reckon  he  hath  the  first  right 
to  speak  out.  Susanna  seeth  light  in  the  school-room 
still,  though  all  the  boys  be  gone,  and  books  into  the  cup- 
boards. Ah,  he  is  the  true  branch  for  discipline.  Do'e 
good  to  look  in  at  the  window  after  dusk,  and  the  candles 
as  straight  as  if  the  French  was  coming.  *  I  am  the  Vine,' 
saith  the  Lord,  '  and  ye' — but  you  know  what  it  is,  Dr. 
Jemmy,  though  seldom  to  be  found,  whether  church  it  be 
or  chapel.  Only  if  you  make  a  point  of  seeing  the  man 
that  knoweth  more  than  all  of  us  put  together —  The  new 
pupil,  Master  Peckover,  is  a  very  obliging  young  gentle- 
man, and  one  as  finds  it  hard  upon  him  to  keep  still." 

"  Oh,  he  is  come,  is  he  ?  I  have  heard  some  tales  of 
him.  It  struck  me  there  was  more  noise  than  usual  in 
the  pupils'  room.  Let  me  think  a  moment,  if  you  please. 


IN    CHARGE  85 

Yes,  I  had  better  see  Sergeant  Jakes  ;  he  may  be  a  queer 
old  codger,  but  he  will  stick  to  what  he  sees  and  says. 
Tell  those  noisy  fellows  that  they  must  keep  quiet.  They 
want  High  Jarks  among  them  with  his  biggest  vine,  as 
you  seem  to  call  his  cane." 


CHAPTER  XI 
AT     THE     CHARGE 

STRENUOUS  vitality,  strong  pulse,  thick  skin,  tough  bone, 
and  steadfast  brain,  all  elements  of  force  and  fortitude, 
were  united  in  this  Dr.  Fox ;  and  being  thus  endowed, 
and  with  ready  money  too,  he  felt  more  of  anger  than  of 
fear  when  a  quarrel  was  thrust  upon  him.  While  he  waited 
alone  for  the  school-master  he  struck  Mr.  Penniloe's  best 
dining-table  with  a  heavy  fist  that  made  the  dishes  ring 
and  the  new-fashioned  candles  throw  spots  of  grease  upon 
the  coarse  white  diaper.  Then  he  laughed  at  himself,  and 
put  a  calm  face  on  as  he  heard  the  strong  steps  in  the 
passage. 

"  Sit  here,  Mr.  Jakes,"  he  said,  pointing  to  a  chair,  as 
the  sergeant  offered  him  a  stiff  salute.  "  Mrs.  Muggridge, 
you  had  better  leave  the  room  ;  this  is  not  a  nice  matter  for 
ladies.  Now,  sergeant,  what  is  all  this  rotten  stuff  about 
me?" 

"  Not  about  you,  sir,  I  hope  with  all  my  heart." 

Mr.  Jakes  met  the  young  man's  flashing  eyes  with  a 
gaze  that  replied — "  You  don't  scare  me,"  and  drew  his 
chair  close  enough  to  study  every  feature.  If  the  young 
man  was  full  of  wrath  so  was  the  old  man — implacable 
wrath  at  the  outrage  to  his  colonel. 

"  Well,  tell  your  pack  of  lies  " — Fox  was  driven  beyond 
himself  by  the  other's  suspicious  scrutiny — "  oh,  I  beg 
your  pardon,  you  believe  them  true,  of  course.  But  out 
with  your  stuff,  like  a  man,  sir !" 

"  It  is  your  place  to  prove  it  a  pack  of  lies,"  saicj,  the 
old  man,  with  his  shaggy  eyebrows  rigid  as  a  line  of  Brit- 
ish bayonets ;  "  and  if  you  can't,  by  the  God  who  made 
me,  I'll  run  my  old  sword  though  your  heart." 

"  Rather  hard  upon  me.    Not  got  it  here,  I  hope.    Half 


AT    THE    CHARGE  87 

an  hour  for  repentance  while  you  fetch  it  out  of  some 
cheese-toasting  rack.  A  nice  man  to  teach  the  youth  of 
Perlycross  !  What  a  fool  you  are,  Jakes !  But  that  you 
can't  help  ;  even  a  fool,  though,  may  try  to  be  fair.  Dur- 
ing your  long  time  in  the  wars  were  you  ever  accused 
wrongfully,  my  friend  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  a  score  of  times  ;  and  I  like  your  spirit.  If 
you  did  what  they  say  of  you,  you  would  be  a  cur.  Every 
evil  name  you  call  me  makes  me  think  the  better  of  you." 

"  I  will  call  you  no  more  ;  for  I  want  no  favour.  All  I 
want  is  truth  about  this  cursed  outrage.  Am  I  to  wait  all 
night  for  it?  Now  just  tell  your  tale  as  if  you  were  sit- 
ting at  the  Ivy-bush.  You  have  been  in  command  of  men, 
no  "doubt — just  command  yourself." 

"  That  I  will,"  said  the  veteran,  with  an  upward  glance — 
"  not  like  the  Ivy-bush,  but  as  before  the  Lord.  Sir,  I  will 
command  myself  as  you  recommend,  and  perhaps  you 
would  be  none  the  worse  for  taking  your  own  medicine." 

"  Jakes,  you  are  right.  It  is  enough  to  turn  me  savage, 
but  you  shall  not  hear  me  speak  again  until  you  have 
finished." 

"  It  was  just  like  this,  sir,"  began  the  sergeant,  looking 
round  for  a  glass  by  force  of  habit,  and  then  ashamed  of 
himself  for  such  a  thought  just  now  :  "  Everybody  in  this 
parish  knows  how  much  I  thought  of  Colonel  Waldron, 
for  a  better  and  a  braver  man  never  trod  this  earth.  Even 
Parson  Penniloe  will  have  to  stand  behind  him  when  the 
last  muster  cometh,  because  he  hath  not  served  his  coun- 
try. But  I  never  was  satisfied  with  any  of  you  doctors. 
You  may  be  very  well  in  your  way,  Mr.  Fox,  for  toothing, 
or  measles,  or  any  young  complaint ;  but  where  is  your 
experience  in  times  of  peace  ?  And  as  for  that  hang-dog 
looking  chap  from  London — well,  I  won't  say  what  I 
thought  of  him,  for  I  always  keep  my  own  opinions  to 
myself.  But  I  knew  it  was  all  over  with  our  poor  colonel 
the  moment  I  clapped  eyes  on  that  fellow.  Why,  I  went  my- 
self at  once  and  begged  the  colonel  to  have  him  drummed 
out  of  the  parish  to  the  rogue's  tattoo.  But  the  good 
colonel  only  laughed  and  shook  my  hand — the  last  time 
it  was,  sir,  the  very  last  time. 

"  You  were  at  the  funeral,  and  there  never  was  a  truer 


88  PERLYCEOSS 

one.  I  was  proud  to  iny  heart,  though  it  felt  like  lead, 
to  see  three  old  officers  come  from  miles  away,  brave  men 
as  ever  led  a  storming  column,  with  tears  in  their  eyes 
and  not  a  thought  of  their  own  ends.  There  was  no  firing- 
party  as  should  have  been,  being  nothing  but  peace  go- 
ing on  nowadays,  and  only  country  bumpkins  about  here. 
But  I  see  you  are  impatient,  because  you  know  all  that. 

"  As  soon  as  all  were  gone  away  and  the  ground  put 
tidy,  I  brought  a  few  of  my  own  white  flowers,  as  they  do 
in  Spanish  land,  and  put  them  in  very  carefully  with  a  bit 
of  moss  below  them,  and  fastened  them  so  as  not  to  blow 
away,  although  there  was  a  strong  east  wind  up.  Later 
on  at  night  I  came  again  by  the  little  wicket  from  the 
school -room  just  to  see  that  all  was  right,  for  my  mind 
was  uneasy  somehow. 

"  The  moon  was  going  low,  and  it  was  getting  very 
cold,  and  not  a  soul  about  that  I  could  see.  The  flowers 
showed  bright  at  the  head  of  the  mound,  and  close  by  was 
a  little  guardian — the  colonel's  pet  dog,  that  could  never 
bear  to  leave  him  ;  she  was  lying  there  all  in  the  cold  by 
herself,  sobbing  every  now  and  then,  or  as  it  were  bewail- 
ing, with  her  chin  along  the  ground,  as  if  her  heart  was 
broken.  It  struck  me  so  sad  that  I  could  look  at  her  no 
more. 

"  In  the  morning  I  slept  past  the  usual  time,  being  up 
so  late,  and  out  of  spirits.  But  I  saw  the  white  frost  on 
the  ground,  and  I  had  a  few  boys  to  correct  before  school 
began,  and  then  lessons  to  see  to  till  twelve  o'clock,  and 
it  must  have  been  turned  the  half -hour  when  I  went  to 
church-yard  again  to  see  how  my  flowers  had  stood  the 
frost.  I  had  brought  a  bit  of  victuals  in  my  pocket  for 
the  dog ;  but  little  Jess  was  gone,  and  I  could  not  blame 
her,  considering  how  easily  a  man  forgets  his  dog ;  and  yet 
I  was  vexed  with  her  for  being  so  like  us,  for  the  poor 
things  have  no  religion  such  as  we  make  smooth  with. 
My  flowers  were  there,  but  not  exactly  as  I  thought  I  had 
put  them,  and  the  bank  appeared  to  me  to  be  made  up 
sharper. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Fox,  I  am  not  one  of  them  that  notice  little 
things  upon  the  earth  so  much  (as  if  there  was  never  any 
sky  above  them),  and  make  more  fuss  about  a  blade  of 


AT   THE    CHARGE  89 

grass  than  the  nature  of  men  and  good  metal.  I  thought 
that  old  Channing  had  been  at  work  again,  not  satisfied 
with  his  understrapper's  job.  Then  I  drew  forth  my  flow- 
ers, and  they  looked  almost  as  if  they  had  been  tossed 
about  the  yard — crumpled  almost  anyhow,  as  well  as 
scorched  with  frost. 

"  At  this  I  was  angry,  when  I  thought  how  kind  the 
poor  colonel  had  been  to  that  old  stick  of  a  clerk,  and  even 
let  him  muck  up  their  liveries ;  and  so  I  set  off  for  the  old 
man's  cottage  to  have  a  word  or  two  with  him  about  it. 
But  he  was  not  at  home,  and  little  Polly,  his  granddaugh- 
ter, was  sure  that  he  had  not  been  near  the  church  that 
day,  but  was  gone  to  help  dig  Farmer  John's  potatoes. 

"Then  back  I  went  again  in  a  terrible  quandary,  re- 
membering the  wicked  doings  up  the  country,  and  the 
things  that  had  come  across  my  fancy  in  the  night. 

"  The  first  thing  I  saw  when  I  came  back  by  south  gate 
was  a  young  man,  red  in  the  face  and  out  of  breath,  jump- 
ing in  and  out,  over  graves  and  tombstones,  from  the  west 
end  where  the  contractor's  work  is.  *  What  are  you  doing, 
Bob  ?'  said  I,  rebuking  of  him  pretty  strongly,  for  I  saw 
that  it  was  one  of  my  old  boys,  now  become  a  trusty 
sort  of  groom  at  Walderscourt. 

"  *  Sergeant,  what  have  you  been  doing  here  ?'  says  he. 
*  Our  little  Jess  has  just  come  home  with  one  leg  cut  in 
two.' 

"  All  my  blood  seemed  to  stand  still,  and  I  should  have 
dropped  if  I  hadn't  laid  hold  of  that  very  tombstone 
which  the  parson  can't  endure.  The  whole  of  it  flashed 
upon  me  in  a  moment,  and  a  fool  I  must  have  been  not  to 
see  it  all  before.  But  wicked  as  our  men  were,  and  wicked 
1  myself  was — as  I  will  not  deny  it,  in  the  rough-and-tum- 
ble times — such  a  blackguard  dastard  crime  was  out  of  my 
conception.  Considering  who  the  colonel  was — consider- 
ing what  he  was,  sir  !" 

The  sergeant  turned  away  his  face,  and  desired  to  snuff 
the  candles.  No  snuffers  were  there,  for  this  new  inven- 
tion was  warranted  not  to  want  them.  So  he  fumbled 
with  his  empty  sleeve,  but  it  would  not  come  up  to  order, 
and  then  he  turned  back  as  if  brought  to  bay  and  reck- 
less of  public  opinion,  with  his  best  new  handkerchief  in 


90  PERLYCROSS 

his  hand  — a  piece  of  cotton  goods  imprinted  with  the 
Union-Jack  in  colours. 

"  My  friend,  you  are  a  noble  fellow,"  said  Fox,  with  his 
own  wrongs  out  of  date  in  the  movement  of  large  feeling. 
"  Would  to  God  that  I  had  any  one  as  true  to  me  as  you 
are  !" 

"  It  is  not  that,"  resumed  the  sergeant,  trying  to  look 
stern  again ;  "  it  is  the  cursed  cruelty  that  makes  me  hate 
mankind,  sir.  That  a  man  should  kill  a  poor  dumb  thing 
because  it  loved  its  master — there,  there,  the  Almighty 
will  smite  the  brute  ;  for  all  helpless  things  belong  to  Him. 

"  Well,  sir,  I  hardly  know  what  happened  next,  or  what 
I  said  to  Bob  Cornish.  But  he  went  round  the  wall 
to  fetch  his  horse,  and  the  news  must  have  spread  like 
wildfire.  A  young  man  who  had  helped  to  make  up  the 
grave  was  going  to  his  dinner  through  the  church-yard, 
and  seeing  us  there  he  came  and  looked,  and  turned  like 
a  ghost,  and  followed  us.  Presently  we  were  in  the  street, 
with  half  the  village  after  us,  going  to  the  chief  church- 
warden's house,  for  we  knew  how  ill  the  parson  was.  At  the 
cross-roads  we  met  Farmer  John,  and  old  Clerk  Channing 
along  of  him,  looking  doiled  as  bad  as  we  were,  and  be- 
tween them  the  blacksmith  from  Susscot  ford ;  and  a  ter- 
rible tale  we  had  from  them. 

"  Farmer  John,  as  the  head  of  the  parish  now,  took  the 
lead,  and  well  he  did  it.  We  went  back  by  the  big  iron 
gate,  and  there  we  kept  the  outsiders  back  ;  and  Mr.  Ad- 
ney  was  as  good  with  his,  who  were  working  near  the 
tower.  I  was  ordered  to  the  eastern  end,  where  the  stone 
stile  leads  into  Perlycombe  lane,  by  which  the  villains 
must  have  got  in  ;  with  no  house  there  in  view  of  it,  but 
only  the  tumble -down  abbey.  Somebody  was  sent  for 
my  old  sword  that  I  knocked  away  from  the  French  offi- 
cer, and  now  hangeth  over  the  Commandments;  and  I 
swore  that  I  would  slash  off  any  hand  that  was  laid  on  the 
edge  of  the  riser ;  while  Adney  brought  a  pile  of  scaffold- 
cords,  and  enclosed  all  the  likelihood  of  footprints. 

"  By  this  time  the  other  church-warden  was  come,  and 
they  all  put  their  heads  together  and  asked  what  my  opin- 
ion was,  and  I  said,  *  Make  no  bones  of  it.'  But  they  had 
done  a  wiser  thing  than  that,  with  an  eye  to  the  law  and  the 


AT   THE    CHAEGE  91 

penalties.  They  had  sent  Bob  Cornish  on  the  fast  young 
horse  the  colonel  thought  so  much  of  to  fetch  the  nearest 
justice  of  the  peace  from  his  house  this  side  of  Perliton. 
Squire  Mockham  came,  as  strong  as  he  could  ride,  with 
his  mind  made  up  about  it ;  and  four  digging  men  were 
set  to  work  at  once.  Squire  Mockham  was  as  sharp  about 
it  as  if  he  had  just  had  the  lid  taken  off  of  him  by  death 
of  superior  officer  ;  and  I,  who  had  seen  him  on  the  bench 
knock  under  to  half  a  wink  from  the  colonel's  eye,  was 
vexed  with  the  dignity  he  took  over  by  reason  of  being 
survivor. 

"  Clerk  Channing  will  tell  you  more  about  the  condi- 
tion of  things  underground,  for  I  never  made  them  my 
study  ;  though  I  have  helped  to  bury  a  many  brave  men 
in  the  rough,  both  French  and  English.  My  business  it 
was  to  keep  people  away  ;  and  while  I  was  putting  a  stern 
face  on,  and  looking  fit  to  kill  any  of  the  bumpkins,  the 
Lord  knows  I  could  never  have  touched  them,  for  my 
blood  was  as  cold  as  snow-water.  And  when  they  sang 
up,  *  No  colonel  here  !'  just  as  if  it  made  no  difference,  I 
dropped  the  French  sword,  and  my  flesh  clave  to  my 
bones,  the  same  as  it  did  to  King  David.  And  ever  since 
that  I  have  been  fit  for  Bedlam,  and  the  boys  may  stand 
and  make  mouths  at  me." 

"  I  can  understand  that,"  said  Dr.  Fox,  with  his  medi- 
cal instincts  moving — generously,  as  they  always  do  with 
a  man  worthy  of  that  high  calling.  "  Jakes,  you  are  in  a 
depressed  condition,  and  this  exertion  has  made  it  worse. 
What  you  want  is  a  course  of  carminatives  ;  I  will  send 
you  a  bottle  this  very  night.  No  more  excitement  for  you 
at  present.  Lay  aside  all  thought  of  this  sad  matter." 

"  As  if  I  could,  sir — as  if  I  could  !" 

"  No,  I  am  a  fool  for  suggesting  that,  but  think  of  it 
as  little  as  you  can.  Above  all  things,  go  in  for  more 
physical  exertion.  Cane  half  a  dozen  boys  before  break- 
fast." 

"  There's  a  dozen  and  a  half,  sir,  that  have  been  neg- 
lected sadly." 

"  That  will  be  a  noble  tonic.  Making  mouths  at  Ser- 
geant Jakes !  You  look  better  already,  at  the  thought  of 
doing  duty  and  restoring  discipline." 


92  PERLYCKOSS 

"  Talk  about  duty,  sir !  Where  was  I  ?  Oh,  if  I  had 
only  gone  out  again — if  I  had  only  gone  out  again,  instead 
of  turning  into  my  bed,  like  a  sluggard !  I  shall  never 
forgive  myself  for  that." 

"You  would  just  have  been  killed,  as  poor  Jess  was. 
Such  scoundrels  think  nothing  of  adding  murder  to  a 
crime  still  worse.  But  before  you  go  home  —  which  is 
the  best  thing  you  can  do,  and  have  a  dish  of  hot  kidneys 
from  your  brother's  shop  —  one  thing  I  must  ask,  and  you 
must  answer.  What  lunatic  has  dared  to  say  that  I  had 
anything  to  do  with  this  ?" 

"The  whole  parish  is  lunatic,  if  it  comes  to  that, 
sir." 

"And  all  the  world  sometimes.  But  who  began  it? 
Jakes,  you  are  a  just  man,  or  you  could  not  be  so  loyal.  Is 
it  fair  to  keep  me  in  the  dark  about  the  black  things  they 
are  saying  of  me  ?" 

"  Sir,  it  is  not ;  and  I  will  tell  you  all  I  know,  what- 
ever enemies  I  may  make.  When  a  thing  flares  about, 
you  can  seldom  lay  your  hand  on  the  man  or  the  woman 
who  fired  the  train.  It  was  Crang,  the  shoeing  smith  at 
Susscot  ford,  who  first  brought  your  name  into  it." 

"  Crang  is  an  honest  and  a  simple-minded  man.  He 
would  never  speak  against  me  of  his  own  will.  He  has 
been  most  grateful  for  what  I  did  when  his  little  girl  had 
scarlet  -  fever.  How  could  he  have  started  this  cursed 
tale?" 

"  From  the  evidence  of  his  own  eyes,  sir ;  according,  at 
least,  to  his  use  of  them." 

"  Tell  me  what  he  saw,  or  thought  he  saw.  He  is  not 
the  man  to  tell  a  lie.  Whatever  he  said  he  believed  in." 

Fox  spoke  without  any  anger  now;  for  this  could  be  no 
Gcheme  of  his  enemies. 

"You  are  wonderful  fair,  sir,"  said  Sergeant  Jakes. 
"You  deserve  to  have  all  above-board,  and  you  shall 
have  it." 

Tired  as  he  was,  and  beginning  to  feel  poorly  at  the 
threat  of  medicine,  the  old  soldier  told  the  blacksmith's 
tale  with  as  few  variations  as  can  contrive  to  keep  them- 
selves out  of  a  repetition.  Fox  began  to  see  that  the  case 
was  not  by  any  means  so  easy  as  he  first  supposed.  Here 


AT   THE    CHARGE  93 

was  evidence  direct  against  him  from  an  impartial  witness ; 
a  tale  coherent  and  confirmed  by  facts  independent  of  it, 
a  motive  easily  assigned  ;  and  the  public  eager  to  accept  it 
after  recent  horrors.  But  he  was  young,  and  warm  of 
faith  in  friendship,  candour,  and  good -will;  or  (if  the 
worst  should  come  to  the  worst),  in  absolute  pure  justice. 

"  It  will  not  take  long  to  put  this  to  rights,"  he  said, 
when  the  sergeant  had  finished  his  account.  "  No  one 
can  really  have  believed  it,  except  that  blockhead  o'f  a 
blacksmith.  He  was  in  a  blue  funk  all  the  time,  and  no 
need  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  There  are  two  people  I  must 
see  to-night — Mr.  Mockham  and  that  Joe  Crang  himself. 
I  shall  borrow  a  horse  from  Walter  Haddon ;  my  young 
mare  has  had  enough  of  it.  I  shall  see  how  the  parson 
looks  before  I  go.  Now  go  to  bed,  sergeant,  as  I  told  you. 
To-morrow  you  will  find  all  the  wiseacres  saying  what 
fools  they  have  made  of  one  another." 

But  the  veteran  shook  his  head,  and  said,  "If  a  cat  has 
nine  lives,  sir,  a  lie  has  ninety-nine." 


CHAPTER  XII 
A  FOOL'S  ERRAND 

MR.  JOHN  MOCKHAM  was  a  short  stout  man  about  five 
or  six  and  forty  years  of  age,  ruddy,  kind-hearted,  and 
jocular.  He  thought  very  highly  of  Jemmy  Fox,  both  as 
a  man  and  a  doctor ;  moreover,  he  had  been  a  guest  at 
Foxden  several  times,  and  had  met  with  the  greatest 
hospitality.  But  for  all  that  he  doubted  not  a  little  in  his 
heart — though  his  tongue  was  not  allowed  to  know  it  — 
concerning  the  young  doctor's  innocence  of  this  most  atro- 
cious outrage.  He  bore  in  mind  how  the  good  and  gentle 
mother  had  bemoaned  (while  Jemmy  was  in  turn-down 
collars)  the  very  sad  perversity  of  his  mind  towards  any- 
thing bony  and  splintery.  Nothing  could  keep  him  from 
cutting  up,  even  when  his  thumb  was  done  round  with 
oozing  rag,  anything  jointed  or  cellular ;  and  the  smell  of 
the  bones  he  collected  was  dreadful,  even  in  the  drawer 
where  his  frilled  shirts  were  laid. 

The  time  was  not  come  yet,  and  happily  shall  never — 
in  spite  of  all  morbid  suisection  —  when  a  man  shall 
anatomize  his  own  mind  and  trace  every  film  of  its  his- 
tology. Squire  Mockham  would  have  laughed  any  one  to 
scorn  who  had  dared  to  suggest  that  in  the  process  of  his 
brain  there  was  any  connection  of  the  frills  in  Jemmy's 
drawer  with  the  blacksmith's  description  of  what  he  had 
seen ;  and  yet,  without  his  knowledge,  it  may  even  have 
been  so.  But  whatever  his  opinion  on  the  subject  was,  he 
did  not  refuse  to  see  this  young  friend,  although  he  was  en- 
tertaining guests,  and  the  evening  was  now  far  advanced. 

Fox  was  shown  into  the  library  by  a  very  pale  footman, 
who  glanced  at  the  visitor  as  if  he  feared  instant  dissection, 
and  evidently  longed  to  lock  him  in.  "  Is  it  come  to  this 
already  ?"  thought  poor  Fox. 


95 

"  Excuse  me  for  not  asking  you  to  join  us  in  there," 
Mr.  Mockhara  began,  rather  stiffly,  as  he  pointed  to  the 
dining-room;  "but  I  thought  you  might  wish  to  see  me 
privately." 

"  I  care  not  how  it  is.  I  have  come  to  you  as  a  magis- 
trate, and  —  and  "  —  "  an  old  friend  of  the  family  "  was 
what  he  meant  to  say,  but  substituted,  "  as  a  gentleman, 
and  a  sensible  and  clear-sighted  one,  to  receive  my  deposi- 
tion on  oath  concerning  the  wicked  lies  spread  abroad 
about  me." 

"  Of  what  use  will  it  be  ?  The  proper  course  is  for  you 
to  wait  till  the  other  side  move  in  the  matter,  and  then 
prove  your  innocence  if  possible,  and  then  proceed  against 
them." 

"That  is  to  say,  I  am  to  lie  for  six  months,  perhaps 
twelve  months,  under  this  horrible  imputation,  and  be  grate- 
ful for  escaping  at  last  from  it !  I  see  that  even  you  are 
half  inclined  to  think  me  guilty." 

"  All  this  to  a  magistrate  is  quite  improper.  It  happens 
that  I  have  resolved  not  to  act,  to  take  no  share  in  any 
proceedings  that  may  follow,  on  account  of  my  acquaint- 
ance with  your  family.  But  that  you  could  not  know  until 
I  told  you.  I  am  truly  sorry  for  you,  but  you  must  even 
bear  it." 

"  You  say  that  so  calmly  because  you  think  I  deserve  it. 
Now  as.  you  are  not  going  to  act  in  the  matter,  and  have 
referred  to  your  friendship  with  my  family,  I  will  tell  you 
a  little  thing  in  confidence  which  will  prove  to  you  at 
once  that  I  am  innocent — that  I  never  could  by  any  possi- 
bility have  done  it." 

Before  Mr.  Mockham  could,  draw  back,  the  visitor  had 
whispered  a  few  words  in  his  ear,  which  entirely  changed 
the  whole  expression  of  his  face. 

"  Well,  I  am  surprised !  I  had  no  idea  of  it.  How 
could  that  fool  Crang  have  made  such  a  mistake  ?  But  I 
saw  from  the  first  how  absurd  it  was  to  listen  to  such 
fellows.  I  refused  to  give  a  warrant.  I  said  that  no  con- 
nection could  be  shown  between  the  two  occurrences. 
How  strange  that  I  should  have  hit  the  mark  so  well! 
But  I  seem  to  have  that  luck  generally.  Well,  I  am 
pleased  for  your  dear  mother's  sake  as  well  as  your  own, 


96  PEELYCEOSS 

Master  Jemmy.  There  may  be  a  lot  of  trouble,  but  you 
must  keep  your  heart  up,  and  the  winning  card  is  yours. 
After  all,  what  a  thing  it  is  to  be  a  doctor !" 

"  Not  so  very  fine,  unless  your  nature  drives  you  into 
it.  And  everybody  thinks  you  make  the  worst  of  him 
to  exalt  your  blessed  self.  So  they  came  for  a  warrant 
against  me,  did  they  ?  Is  it  lawful  to  ask  who  they  were  ?" 

"  To  be  sure  it  is,  my  boy.  Everybody  has  a  right  to 
that  piece  of  information.  Tapscott  was  the  man  that 
came  to  swear — strong  reason  for  believing,  etc.,  with  two 
or  three  witnesses,  all  from  your  parish ;  Crang  among 
the  others,  hauled  in  by  the  neck,  and  each  foremost  in 
his  own  opinion.  But  Crang  wanted  to  be  last,  for  he 
kept  on  shouting  that  if  he  had  to  swear  against  Dr. 
Jemmy  the  Lord  would  know  that  he  never  meant  it. 
This  of  course  made  it  all  the  worse  for  your  case  ;  and 
every  one  was  grieved,  yet  gratified.  You  are  too  young 
to  know  the  noise  which  the  newspapers  begin  to  call 
'  public  opinion  ' — worth  about  as  much  as  a  blue-bottle's 
buzz,  and  as  eager  to  pitch  upon  nastiness.  I  refused  a 
warrant — as  my  duty  was.  Even  if  the  blacksmith's  tale 
was  true — and  there  was  no  doubt  that  he  believed  it — 
what  legal  connection  could  they  show  betwixt  that  and 
the  matter  at  the  church-yard  ?  In  a  case  of  urgency,  and 
risk  of  disappearance  of  the  suspected  person,  I  might 
have  felt  bound  to  grant  it.  But  I  knew  that  you  would 
stand  it  out ;  and  unless  they  could  show  any  others  im- 
plicated their  application  was  premature." 

"  Then,  unless  you  had  ventured  to  stem  the  tide,  I  sup- 
pose that  I  should  have  been  arrested  when  I  came  back 
to-day  from  my  father's  sick-bed.  A  pretty  state  of  law 
in  this  free  country  !" 

"The  law  is  not  to  blame.  It  must  act  promptly  in 
cases  of  strong  suspicion.  Probably  they  will  apply  to- 
morrow to  some  younger  magistrate.  But  your  father  is 
ill  ?  How  long  have  you  been  with  him  ?  They  made  a 
great  deal  out  of  your  disappearance." 

"  My  father  has  had  a  paralytic  stroke.  I  trust  that  he 
will  get  over  it ;  and  I  have  left  him  in  excellent  hands. 
But  to  hear  of  this  would  kill  him.  His  mind  is  much 
weakened,  of  course;  and  he  loves  me.  I  had  no  idea 


97 

that  he  cared  much  for  me.  I  thought  he  only  cared  for 
my  sister." 

"  Excuse  me  for  a  moment,  I  must  go  to  my  guests." 
Mr.  Mockham  perceived  that  the  young  man  was  over- 
come for  the  moment,  and  would  rather  be  alone.  "  I  will 
make  it  all  right  with  them,  and  be  back  directly." 

Fox  was  an  active  and  resolute  young  fellow,  with  great 
powers  of  endurance,  as  behooved  a  man  of  medicine. 
Honest  indignation,  and  strong  sense  of  injustice,  had 
stirred  up  his  energy  for  some  hours ;  but  since  last  Thurs- 
day night  he  had  slept  very  little,  and  the  whole  waking 
time  had  been  worry  and  exertion.  So  that  now  when  he 
was  left  alone,  and  had  no  foe  to  fire  at,  bodily  weariness 
began  to  tell  upon  him,  and  he  fell  back  in  an  easy-chair 
into  a  peaceful  slumber. 

When  the  guests  had  all  departed,  and  the  magistrate 
came  back,  he  stopped  short  for  a  moment,  with  a  broad 
smile  on  his  face,  and  felt  proud  of  his  own  discretion  in 
refusing  to  launch  any  criminal  process  against  this  trust- 
ful visitor.  For  the  culprit  of  the  outcry  looked  so 
placid,  gentle,  good-natured,  and  forgiving — with  the  nat- 
ural expression  restored  by  deep  oblivion — that  a  woman 
would  have  longed  to  kiss  his  forehead  if  she  had  known 
of  his  terrible  mishap. 

"  I  have  brought  you  a  little  drop  of  cordial,  Master 
Jemmy.  I  am  sure  you  must  want  something  good  to 
keep  you  up."  Mr.  Mockham  put  a  spirit-stand  and  glass 
upon  the  table  as  Fox  arose  and  shook  himself. 

"  That  is  very  kind  of  you.  But  I  never  take  spirits, 
though  I  prescribe  them  sometimes  for  old  folk  when 
much  depressed.  But  a  glass  of  your  old  port-wine,  sir, 
would  help  me  very  much — if  I  am  not  giving  you  a  lot 
of  trouble." 

"  You  shall  have  a  glass,  almost  as  good  as  your  father 
has  given  me.  There  it  is.  How  sorry  I  am  to  hear 
about  his  illness  !  But  I  will  do  what  he  would  have 
wished.  I  will  talk  to  you  as  a  friend,  and  one  who 
knows  the  world  better  than  you  can.  First,  however,  you 
must  forgive  me  for  my  vile  suspicions.  They  were 
founded  partly  on  your  good  mother's  account  of  your 
early  doings.  And  I  have  known  certain  instances  of  the 
*6 


98  PEELYCEOSS 

zeal  of  your  profession,  how  in  the  name  of  science  and 
the  benefits  to  humanity — but  I  won't  go  on  about  that 
just  now.  The  question  is,  how  shall  we  clear  you  to  the 
world  ?  The  fact  that  I  doubted  you  is  enough  to  show 
what  others  a-re  likely  to  conclude.  Unluckily  the  story 
has  had  three  days'  start,  and  has  fallen  upon  fruitful 
ground.  Your  brother-doctors  about  here  are  doing  their 
best  to  clinch  the  nail" — Mr.  Mockham,  like  almost 
everybody  else,  was  apt  to  mix  metaphors  in  talking — "  by 
making  lame  excuses  for  you  instead  of  attempting  to 
deny  it." 

"  Such  fellows  as  Jervis  Jackson,  I  suppose.  Several 
of  them  hate  me  because  I  am  not  a  humbug.  Perhaps 
they  will  get  up  a  testimonial  to  me  for  fear  there  should 
be  any  doubt  of  my  guilt." 

"  That  is  the  very  thing  they  talk  of  doing.  How  well 
you  understand  them,  my  young  friend  !  Now  what  have 
you  to  show  against  this  general  conclusion?  For  of 
course  you  cannot  mention  what  you  confessed  to  me." 

"  I  can  just  do  this — I  can  prove  an  alibi.  You  forget 
that  I  can  show  where  I  have  been,  and  prove  the  receipt 
of  the  letter  which  compelled  me  to  leave  home.  Surely 
that  will  convince  everybody  who  has  a  fair  mind.  And 
for  the  rest,  what  do  I  care  ?" 

"  I  don't  see  exactly  what  to  say  to  that."  Mr.  Mock- 
ham  was  beginning  to  feel  tired  also,  after  going  through 
all  his  best  stories  to  his  guests.  "  But  what  says  Cicero, 
or  some  other  fellow  that  old  Dr.  Kichards  use  to  drive 
into  my  skin  ?  '  To  neglect  what  every  one  thinks  of  one's 
self  is  the  proof  not  only  of  an  arrogant  but  even  of  a 
dissolute  man.'  You  are  neither  of  these.  You  must  con- 
tend with  it,  and  confound  your  foes,  or  else  run  away. 
And  upon  the  whole,  as  you  don't  belong  here,  but  up  the 
country — as  we  call  it — and  your  father  wants  your  atten- 
tion, the  wisest  thing  you  can  do  is  to  bolt." 

"  Would  you  do  that,  if  it  were  your  own  case  ?"  Fox 
had  not  much  knowledge  of  Squire  Mockham,  except  as  a 
visitor  at  his  father's  house,  and  whether  he  should  re- 
spect or  despise  him  depended  upon  the  answer. 

"  I  would  see  them  all  d d  first,"  the  magistrate  re- 
plied, looking  as  if  he  would  be  glad  to  do  it ;  "  but  that 


99 

is  because  I  am  a  Devonshire  man.  You  are  over  the  bor- 
der, and  not  to  be  blamed." 

"  Well,  there  are  some  things  one  cannot  get  over," 
Dr.  Jemmy  answered,  with  a  pleasant  smile,  "  and  the 
worst  of  them  all  is  to  be  born  outside  of  Devon.  If  I 
had  been  of  true  Devonshire  birth,  I  believe  you  would 
never  have  held  me  guilty." 

"  Others  may  take  that  view,  but  I  do  not,"  said  the 
magistrate,  very  magnanimously  ;  "  it  would  have  been 
better  for  you,  no  doubt.  But  we  are  not  narrow-minded  ; 
and  your  mother  was  a  Devonshire  woman,  connected  with 
our  oldest  .families.  No,  no ;  the  question  is  now  of  evi- 
dence, and  the  law  does  not  recognize  the  difference.  The 
point  is — to  prove  that  you  were  really  away." 

"  Outside  the  holy  county  where  this  outrage  was  com- 
mitted ?  Foxden  is  thirty  miles  from  Perlycross,  even  by 
the  shortest  cuts,  and  nearer  thirty -five  to  all  who  are 
particular  about  good  roads.  I  was  at  my  father's 
bedside  some  minutes  before  ten  o'clock  on  Saturday 
morning." 

"  That  is  not  enough  to  show.  We  all  know  in  com- 
mon-sense that  the  ride  would  have  taken  at  least  four 
hours ;  probably  more,  over  those  bad  roads,  in  the  dark- 
ness of  a  November  morning.  The  simplest  thing  will  be 
for  you  to  tell  me  the  whole  of  your  movements  on  the 
night  of  this  affair." 

"  That  I  will,  as  nearly  as  I  can  remember ;  though  I 
had  no  reason  then  for  keeping  any  special  record.  To 
begin  with :  I  was  at  the  funeral  of  course,  and  saw  you 
there,  but  did  not  cross  over  to  speak  to  you.  Then  I 
walked  home  to  the  Old  Barn  where  I  live,  which  stands 
as  you  know  at  the  foot  of  Hagdon  Hill.  It  was  nearly 
dark  then,  perhaps  half-past  five  ;  and  I  felt  out  of  spirits 
and  sadly  cut  up,  for  I  was  very  fond  of  Sir  Thomas.  I 
sat  thinking  of  him  for  an  hour  or  so  ;  and  then  I  changed 
my  clothes  for  riding  togs,  and  had  a  morsel  of  cold  beef 
and  a  pipe,  and  went  to  look  for  the  boy  that  brings  my 
letters  ;  for  old  Walker,  the  postman,  never  comes  near 
the  Barn.  There  was  no  sign  of  the  boy,  so  I  saddled  Old 
Rock — for  my  inan  was  '  keeping  funeral '  still,  as  they  ex- 
press it — and  I  rode  to  Northend,  the  farthest  corner  of 


100  PERLYCKOSS 

the  parish,  to  see  to  a  little  girl  who  has  had  a  dangerous 
attack  of  croup.  Then  I  crossed  Maiden  Down  by  the 
gravel-pits  to  see  an  old  stager  at  Old  Bait,  who  abuses 
me  every  time,  and  expects  a  shilling.  Then  homeward 
through  Priestwell,  and  knocked  at  Gronow's  door,  having 
a  general  permission  to  come  in  at  night.  But  he  was  not 
at  home,  or  did  not  want  to  be  disturbed  ;  so  I  lost  very 
little  time  by  that.  It  must  have  been  now  at  least  nine 
o'clock,  with  the  moon  in  the  south-west,  and  getting  very 
cold;  but  I  had  managed  to  leave  my  watch  on  the 
drawers  when  I  pulled  my  mourning  clothes  off. 

"  From  Priestwell  I  came  back  to  Perlycross,  and  was 
going  straight  home  to  see  about  my  letters — for  I  knew 
that  my  father  had  been  slightly  out  of  sorts,  when  I  saw 
a  man  waiting  at  the  cross-roads  for  me  to  say  that  I  was 
wanted  at  the  Whetstone  pits,  for  a  man  had  tumbled 
down  a  hole  and  broken  both  his  legs.  Without  asking 
the  name,  I  put  spurs  to  Old  Rock,  and  set  off  at  a  spank- 
ing pace  for  the  Whetstone  pits,  expecting  to  find  the 
foreman  there  to  show  me  where  it  was.  It  is  a  long, 
roundabout  way  from  our  village,  at  least  for  any  one  on 
horseback,  though  not  more  than  three  miles  perhaps  in 
a  straight  line,  because  you  have  to  go  all  round  the  butt 
of  Hagdon  Hill,  which  no  one  would  think  of  riding  over 
in  the  dark.  I  should  say  it  must  be  five  miles  at  least 
from  our  cross-roads." 

"  Every  yard  of  that  distance,"  said  the  magistrate, 
who  was  following  the  doctor's  tale  intently,  and  making 
notes  in  his  pocket-book  ;  "  five  miles  at  least,  and  road  out 
of  repair.  Your  parish  ought  to  be  indicted." 

"Very  well;  Old  Rock  was  getting  rather  tired.  A 
better  horse  never  looked  through  a  bridle ;  but  he  can't 
be  less  than  sixteen  years  of  age.  My  father  had  him 
eight  years,  and  I  have  had  him  three ;  and  even  for  a 
man  with  both  legs  broken  I  could  not  drive  a  willing 
horse  to  death.  However,  we  let  no  grass  grow  beneath 
our  feet;  and  dark  as  the  lanes  were,  and  wonderfully 
rough,  even  for  this  favoured  county,  I  got  to  the  pit  at 
the  corner  of  the  hill  as  soon  as  a  man  could  get  there 
without  breaking  his  neck." 

"  In  that  case  he  never  would  get  there  at  all." 


A    FOOL'^s    FyRRAND  101 

"  Perhaps  not ;  or,  at  least,  not  in  working  condition. 
Well,  you  know  what  a  queer  sort  of  place  it  is.  I  had 
been  there  before,  about  a  year  ago  ;  but  then  it  was  day- 
light, and  that  makes  all  the  difference.  I  am  not  so  very 
fidgety  where  I  go  when  I  know  that  a  man  is  in  agony  ; 
but  how  to  get  along  there  in  the  dark,  with  the  white 
grit  up  to  my  horse's  knees,  and  black  pines  barring  out 
the  moonshine,  was — I  don't  mind  confessing  it — a  thing 
beyond  me.  And  the  strangest  thing  of  all  was  that  no- 
body came  near  me.  I  had  the  whole  place  to  myself,  so 
far  as  I  could  see — and  I  did  not  want  it. 

"  I  sat  on  Old  Rock — and  I  had  to  sit  close,  for  the  old 
beauty's  spirit  was  up  in  spite  of  all  his  weariness.  His 
hunting  days  came  to  his  memory,  perhaps  ;  and  you 
should  have  seen  how  he  jumped  about.  At  the  risk  of 
his  dear  old  bones,  of  course  ;  but  a  horse  is  much  pluckier 
than  we  are.  What  got  into  his  old  head  who  shall  say  ? 
But  I  failed  to  see  the  fun  of  it  as  he  did.  There  was  all 
the  white  stuff  that  comes  out  of  the  pits,  like  a  great 
cascade  of  diamonds,  glittering  in  the  level  moonlight, 
with  broad  bars  of  black  thrown  across  it  by  the  pines,  all 
trembling  and  sparkling  and  seeming  to  move. 

"  Those  things  tell  upon  a  man,  somehow,  and  he  seems 
to  have  no  right  to  disturb  them.  But  I  felt  that  I  was  not 
brought  here  for  nothing,  and  began  to  get  vexed  at  seeing 
nobody.  So  I  set  up  a  shout,  with  a  hand  to  my  mouth, 
and  then  a  shrill  whistle  between  my  nails.  The  echo 
came  back  very  punctually ;  but  nothing  else,  except  a 
little  gliding  of  the  shale,  and  shivering  of  black  branch- 
es. Then  I  jumped  off  my  horse  and  made  him  fast  to 
a  tree,  and  scrambled  along  the  rough  bottom  of  the 
hill. 

"  There  are  eight  pits  on  the  south  side  and  seven  upon 
the  north,  besides  the  three  big  ones  at  the  west  end  of 
the  hill,  which  are  pretty  well  worked  out,  according  to 
report.  Their  mouths  are  pretty  nearly  at  a  level,  about 
a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  below  the  chine  of  hill.  But  the 
tumble-down — I  forget  what  the  proper  name  is — the  ex- 
cavated waste  that  comes  down,  like  a  great  beard,  to  the 
foot  where  the  pine-trees  stop  it — : 

"  Brekkles  is  their  name  for  it,"  interrupted  Mr.  Mock- 


102 

ham  ;  "  brekkles,  or  brockles,  I  am  not  sure  which.  You 
know  they  are  a  colony  of  Cornishmen." 

"  Yes,  and  a  strange  outlandish  lot,  having  nothing  to 
do  with  the  people  around  whenever  they  can  help  it.  It 
is  useless  for  any  man  to  seek  work  there.  They  push 
him  down  the  brekkles  —  if  that  is  what  they  call  them. 
However,  they  did  not  push  me  down,  although  I  made 
my  way  up  to  the  top  when  I  had  shouted  in  vain  along 
the  bottom.  I  could  not  get  up  the  stuff  itself ;  I  knew 
better  than  to  make  the  trial.  But  I  circumvented  them 
at  the  farther  end,  and  there  I  found  a  sort  of  terrace, 
where  a  cart  could  get  along  from  one  pit  -  mouth  to  an- 
other. And  from  mouth  to  mouth  I  passed  along  this 
rough  and  stony  gallery,  under  the  furzy  crest  of  hill, 
without  discovering  a  sign  of  life,  while  the  low  moon 
across  the  broad  western  plains  seemed  to  look  up  rather 
than  down  at  me.  Into  every  black  pit-mouth,  broad  or 
narrow,  bratticed  with  timber  or  arched  with  flint,  I  sent 
a  loud  shout,  but  the  only  reply  was  like  the  dead  mur- 
muring of  a  shell.  And  yet  all  the  time  I  felt  somehow 
as  if  I  were  watched  by  invisible  eyes,  as  a  man  upon  a 
cliff  is  observed  from  the  sea. 

"  This  increased  my  anger,  which  was  rising  at  the 
thought  that  some  one  had  made  a  great  fool  of  me ;  and, 
forgetting  all  the  ludicrous  side  of  the  thing — as  a  man 
out  of  temper  is  apt  to  do — I  mounted  the  most  conspicu- 
ous pile  at  the  end  of  the  hill,  and  threw  up  my  arms, 
and  shouted  to  the  moon,  l  Is  this  the  way  to  treat  a 
doctor  ?' 

"  The  distant  echoes  answered — '  Doctor  !  docter  !'  as 
if  they  were  conferring  a  degree  upon  me  ;  and  that  made 
me  laugh  and  grow  rational  again,  and  resolve  to  have 
one  more  try  instead  of  giving  in.  So  I  climbed  upon  a 
ridge  where  I  could  see  along  the  chine  through  patches 
of  white  among  the  blackness  of  the  furze,  and  in  the 
distance  there  seemed  to  be  a  low  fire  smouldering.  For 
a  moment  I  doubted  about  going  on,  for  I  have  heard  that 
these  people  are  uncommonly  fierce  with  any  one  they  take 
for  a  spy  upon  them,  and  here  I  was  entirely  at  their 
mercy.  But  whenever  I  have  done  a  cowardly  thing  I 
have  always  been  miserable  afterwards,  and  so  I  went 


103 

cautiously  forward  towards  the  fire,  with  a  sharp  lookout, 
and  my  hunting-crop  ready.  Suddenly  a  man  rose  in  front 
of  me,  almost  as  if  he  jumped  out  of  the  ground,  a  wild- 
looking  fellow,  stretching  out  both  arms.  I  thought  I  was 
in  for  a  nasty  sort  of  fight,  and  he  seemed  a  very  ugly 
customer.  But  he  only  stepped  back  and  made  some 
inquiry,  so  far  as  I  could  gather  from  his  tone,  for  his 
words  were  beyond  my  intelligence. 

"Then  I  told  him  who  I  was,  and  what  had  brought  me 
there;  and  he  touched  his  rough  hat,  and  seemed  as- 
tonished. He  had  not  the  least  difficulty  in  making  out 
my  meaning,  but  I  could  not  return  the  compliment.  '  Naw 
hoort  along  o'  yussen' — was  his  nearest  approach  to 
English;  which  I  took  to  mean  —  'no  accident  among  us;' 
and  I  saw  by  his  gestures  that  he  meant  this.  In  spite  of 
some  acquaintance  with  the  Mendip  miners,  and  pretty 
fair  mastery  of  their  brogue,  this  Whetstoner  went  beyond 
my  linguistic  powers,  and  I  was  naturally  put  out  with 
him.  Especially  when  in  reply  to  my  conclusion  that  I 
had  been  made  a  fool  of,  he  answered  'yaw,  yaw,'  as  if 
the  thing  was  done  with  the  greatest  ease,  and  must 
be  familiar  to  me.  But,  in  his  rough  style,  he  was  par- 
ticularly civil,  as  if  he  valued  our  profession,  and  was 
sorry  that  any  one  should  play  with  it.  He  seemed  to 
have  nothing  whatever  to  conceal ;  and  so  far  as  I  could 
interpret,  he  was  anxious  to  entertain  me  as  his  guest, 
supposing  that  time  permitted  it.  But  I  showed  him 
where  my  horse  was,  and  he  led  me  to  him  by  a  better 
way  and  helped  me  with  him,  and  declined  the  good  shil- 
ling which  I  offered  him.  This  made  me  consider  him  a 
superior  sort  of  fellow;  though  to  refuse  a  shilling  shows 
neglected  education. 

"  When  I  got  back  to  the  Ancient  Barn — as  I  call  my 
place,  because  it  is  in  reality  nothing  else — it  was  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  all  my  authorities  were  locked 
in  slumber.  George  was  on  a  truss  of  hay  up  in  the  tallat, 
making  more  noise  than  Perle  weir  in  a  flood,  although 
with  less  melody  in  it;  and  old  Betty  was  under  her 
'  Mark,  Luke,  and  John ' —  as  they  call  the  four-poster, 
when  one  is  gone.  So  I  let  them  'bide,  as  you  would  say ; 
gave  Old  Rock  a  mash  myself,  because  he  was  coughing, 


104  PERLYCROSS 

and  went  in  pretty  well  tired,  I  can  assure  you,  to  get  a 
bit  of  bread  and  cheese,  and  then  embrace  the  downy. 

"  But  there  on  my  table  was  a  letter  from  my  mother, 
which  I  ought  to  have  received  before  I  started ;  but  the 
funeral  had  even  thrown  the  post  out,  it  appears.  I  don't 
believe  that  my  boy  was  at  all  to  blame.  But  you  know 
what  Walker  the  postman  is  when  anything  of  interest  is 
moving.  He  simply  stands  still  to  see  the  end  of  it, 
sounding  his  horn  every  now  and  again,  to  show  his  right 
to  look  over  other  folk's  heads.  Every  one  respects  him 
because  he  walks  so  far — thirty  miles  a  day,  by  his  own 
account ;  but  it  must  be  eighteen,  even  when  he  gets  no 
beer." 

"  A  worthy  old  soul,"  said  the  magistrate.  "  And  he 
had  a  lot  of  trouble  last  winter.  Nobody  likes  to  com- 
plain on  that  account.  He  is  welcome  to  get  his  peck  of 
nuts  on  the  road,  and  to  sell  them  next  day  at  Pumpington, 
to  eke  out  his  miserable  wages.  But  this  is  an  age  of  prog- 
ress, and  a  strict  line  must  be  drawn  somewhere.  The 
post  is  important  sometimes,  as  you  know,  though  we  pay 
so  many  eightpences  for  nothing.  Why,  my  friends  were 
saying,  only  this  very  evening,  that  Walker  must  submit 
henceforth  to  a  rule  to  keep  him  out  of  the  coppices. 
When  he  once  gets  there  all  his  sense  of  time  is  gone. 
And  people  are  now  so  impatient." 

"  But  the  nutting-time  is  over,  and  he  has  not  that  ex- 
cuse. He  must  have  been  four  hours  late  on  Friday,  and 
no  doubt  he  was  as  happy  as  ever.  But  to  me  it  would 
have  made  all  the  difference,  for  I  should  have  started  that 
evening  for  Foxden.  My  mother's  letter  begged  me  to 
come  at  once,  for  she  feared  that  my  father  would  never 
speak  again.  There  had  been  some  little  trifles  between 
us,  as  I  don't  mind  telling  you,  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  family.  No  doubt  I  was  to  blame,  and  you  may  sup- 
pose how  much  I  was  cut  up  by  this  sad  news.  It  was 
folly  to  start  in  that  tangle  of  cross-lanes,  with  the  moon 
gone  down  and  my  horse  worn  out.  I  threw  myself  down 
upon  my  bed  and  sobbed,  as  I  thought  of  all  the  best  parts 
of  the  governor. 

"  What  a  fool  a  man  is  when  a  big  blow  falls  upon  him. 
For  two  or  three  hours  I  must  have  lain  like  that,  as  if  all 


105 

the  world  were  in  league  against  me,  and  nothing  to  be 
done  but  feel  helpless  and  rebel.  I  knew  that  there  was 
no  horse  near  the  place  to  be  hired  for  the  ride  to  Foxden, 
even  if  the  owner  could  be  fetched  out  of  his  bed.  And 
all  the  time  I  was  forgetting  the  young  mare  that  I  had 
bought  about  a  month  ago  —  a  sweet  little  thing,  but  not 
thoroughly  broken,  and  I  did  not  mean  to  use  her  much 
until  the  spring.  She  was  loose  in  a  straw-run  at  the  top  of 
my  home-meadow,  with  a  nice  bit  of  after-math  still  pretty 
fresh,  and  a  feed  of  corn  at  night,  which  I  generally  took 
to  her  myself.  Now  she  came  to  the  gate  and  whinnied 
for  me,  because  she  had  been  forgotten ;  and  hearing  the 
sound  I  went  down-stairs  and  lit  a  lantern  to  go  to  the  corn- 
bin.  But  she  had  better  have  gone  without  her  supper,  for 
I  said  to  myself — why  not  try  her  ?  It  was  a  long  way  for 
a  young  thing  just  off  grass,  but  if  only  she  would  take  me 
to  the  great  London  road,  I  might  hire  on  if  she  became 
distressed. 

"  Of  course  I  went  gently  and  carefully  at  first,  for  I 
found  her  a  little  raw  and  bridle-shy ;  but  she  carried  me 
beautifully  when  the  daylight  came,  and  would  have  gone 
like  a  bird  if  I  had  let  her.  She  will  make  a  rare  trotter, 
in  my  opinion,  and  I  only  gave  fifteen  pounds  for  her.  I 
would  not  look  at  fifty  now,  after  the  style  she  brought  me 
back — a  mouth  like  a  French  kid-glove,  and  the  kindest  of 
the  kind." 

"  You  deserve  a  good  horse  because  you  treat  them  well, 
Jemmy.  But  what  about  your  good  father?" 

"  Well,  sir,  thank  God,  he  is  in  no  danger  now ;  but  he 
must  be  kept  very  quiet.  If  he  were  to  hear  of  this  lying 
tale  it  might  be  fatal  to  him.  And  even  my  mother  must 
not  know  it.  Your  Exeter  paper  never  goes  that  way,  but 
the  Bristol  ones  might  copy  it.  My  only  sister,  Christie, 
is  a  wonderful  girl ;  very  firm  and  quick  and  sensible. 
Some  say  that  she  has  got  more  sense  than  I  have,  though 
I  don't  quite  see  it.  I  shall  write  to  her  to-morrow,  just  to 
put  her  upon  guard,  with  a  line  for  Dr.  Freeborn  too 
— my  father's  old  friend  and  director,  who  knows  exactly 
how  to  treat  him.  What  a  rage  they  will  be  in  when  they 
hear  of  this !  But  they  will  keep  it  as  close  as  a  limpet. 
Now  what  do  you  advise  me  to  do  about  myself  ?" 
5* 


106  PEKLYCKOSS 

"  You  must  look  it  in  the  face  like  a  man,  of  course ; 
though  it  is  enough  to  sour  you  for  life  almost,  after  all 
your  good  works  among  the  poor." 

"  No  fear  of  that,  sir.  It  is  the  way  of  the  world. 
'  Fair  before  fierce '  is  my  family  motto,  and  I  shall  try  to 
act  up  to  it.  Though  I  dare  say  my  temper  will  give  out 
sometimes,  especially  with  brother  pill-box." 

"  You  take  it  much  better  than  I  should,  I  fear" — Mr. 
Mockham  spoke  the  truth  in  this ;  "  you  know  that  I  will 
do  my  utmost  for  you,  and  if  you  keep  your  head  you  will 
tide  over  this  and  be  the  idol  of  all  who  have  abused  you 
— I  mean,  who  have  abused  you  honestly.  You  seem  to 
have  solid  stuff  inside  you,  as  is  natural  to  your  father's 
son.  But  it  will  take  a  lot  out  of  your  life;  and  it  seems 
very  hard  upon  a  fine  young  fellow,  especially  after  what 
you  have  told  me.  Things  will  be  very  black  there,  as 
you  must  see." 

"  Certainly  they  will.  But  I  am  not  a  boy.  I  know  a 
noble  nature  when  I  come  across  it.  And  if  ever  there 
was — but  I  won't  go  on  with  that.  If  she  believes  in  me 
I  am  content,  whatever  the  low  world  may  say.  I  have 
never  been  romantic." 

"  I  am  not  at  all  sure  of  that,  my  boy.  But  I  felt  that 
sort  of  wildness  before  I  was  married.  Now  let  me  put 
one  or  two  questions  to  you,  just  to  get  up  your  case,  as  if 
I  was  your  counsel.  Did  any  of  your  people  at  the 
Old  Barn  see  you  after  your  return  from  the  Whetstone 
pits  ?" 

"  Not  one,  to  my  knowledge.  My  household  is  small 
in  that  ram-shackle  place.  Old  Betty  up-stairs,  and  George 
over  the  stables,  and  the  boy  who  goes  home  to  his 
mother  at  night.  I  have  only  those  three  in  the  domestic 
line,  except  upon  great  occasions.  Old  Betty  was  snoring 
in  her  bed,  George  doing  the  like  upon  a  truss  of  hay, 
and  the  boy,  of  course,  off  the  premises.  They  must  have 
found  in  the  morning  that  I  had  been  there,  but  without 
knowing  when,  or  how  long  I  stayed." 

"  That  is  most  unlucky.  Did  you  pass  near  the  church  ? 
Did  you  meet  any  people  who  would  know  you,  anywhere 
between  midnight  and  morning  ?" 

"  Neither  man,  woman,  nor  child  did  I  see,  from  the 


107 

time  I  left  the  Whetstone  Hill  until  I  passed  Perlycombe 
next  morning.  It  was  either  too  late  or  too  early  for  our 
very  quiet  folk  to  be  stirring." 

"  Bad  again — very  bad.  You  cannot  show  your  where- 
abouts during  any  part  of  the  critical  time.  I  suppose  you 
would  know  the  man  on  the  Whetstone  Hill ;  but  that  was 
too  early  to  help  you  much.  The  man  at  the  cross-roads 
— would  you  know  him  ?" 

"  Not  to  be  certain.  He  kept  in  the  shadow,  and  spoke 
as  if  he  were  short  of  breath.  And  the  message  was  so 
urgent  that  I  never  stopped  to  examine  him." 

"  Very  little  comfort  anywhere.  Is  it  usual  for  Dr. 
Gronow  to  be  from  home  at  night  ?" 

Mr.  Mockham  put  this  question  abruptly,  and  pro- 
nounced the  doctor's  name  as  if  he  did  not  love  him. 

"  Not  very  usual ;  but  I  have  known  it  happen.  He  is 
wild  about  fishing,  though  he  cannot  fish  a  bit ;  and  he 
sometimes  goes  late  to  his  night-lines." 

"  He  would  scarcely  have  night-lines  laid  in  November, 
however  big  a  poacher  he  may  be.  Betwixt  you  and  me, 
Jemmy,  in  the  very  strictest  confidence,  I  believe  he  is  at 
the  bottom  of  all  this." 

"  I  will  answer  for  it  that  he  is  not.  In  the  first  place 
he  is  a  gentleman,  though  rough  in  his  manners,  and  very 
odd.  And  again,  he  had  no  motive — none  whatever.  He 
has  given  up  his  practice,  and  cares  more  for  Walton  and 
Cotton  than  for  all  the  Hunterian  Museum.  And  he  knew, 
as  well  as  I  do,  the  nature  of  the  case.  No,  sir,  you  must 
not  suspect  him  for  a  moment." 

"  Well,  then  it  must  be  that  man — I  forget  his  name — 
who  was  staying  with  Mr.  Penniloe.  A  very  sarcastic, 
unpleasant  fellow,  as  several  people  said  who  spoke  to  him. 
He  would  take  good  care  to  leave  no  trace.  He  looked  as 
crafty  as  old  Nick  himself.  It  will  never  be  found  out  if 
that  man  did  it.  No,  no,  Jemmy,  don't  attempt  to  argue  ; 
it  must  be  one  of  you  three.  It  is  neither  you  nor  Gronow ; 
then  it  must  be  that  Harrison  Gowler." 


CHAPTER   XIII 

• 

THE    LAW    OF    THE    LAND 

ONE  comfort  there  was  among  all  this  trouble  and  ter- 
ror and  perplexity — little  Jess  was  not  dead,  as  reported  ; 
nor  even  inclined  to  die,  just  at  present.  It  was  true  that 
she  had  been  horribly  slashed  with  a  spade  or  shovel,  or 
whatever  it  might  have  been,  and  had  made  her  way  home 
on  three  legs  by  slow  stages,  and  perhaps  with  many  a 
fainting  fit.  But  when  she  had  brought  her  evil  tidings, 
and  thrown  down  her  stanch  little  frame  to  die  at  the 
spot  where  she  was  wont  to  meet  her  master,  it  happened 
that  Mr.  Sharland  crossed  the  garden  from  the  stables. 
This  was  a  veterinary  surgeon,  full  of  skill  and  large  of 
heart,  awake  to  the  many  pangs  he  caused  in  systems  finer 
than  the  human,  and  pitiful  to  the  drooping  head  and  the 
legs  worn  out  in  man's  service.  In  a  moment  he  had 
gathered  up  the  story  of  poor  Jess,  and  he  said,  "  If  any 
dog  deserves  to  Tbe  saved,  it  is  this  faithful  little  dear." 

Then  he  pulled  off  his  coat  and  tucked  up  his  sleeves, 
and  pronounced,  with  a  little  pomposity — for  a  good  man 
should  make  his  impression — 

"  Deep  cut  across  the  humerus.  Compound  fracture  of 
the  ulna.  Will  never  do  much  with  that  limb  again.  But 
if  the  little  thing  is  only  half  as  sagacious  as  she  is  faith- 
ful, and  pyretic  action  does  not  supervene,  we  shall  save 
her  life — and  it  is  worth  saving." 

Jess  licked  his  hand  as  if  she  understood  it  all,  and  re- 
signed herself  to  human  wisdom.  And  now  she  had  a 
sweet  bed  in  a  basket,  airy  and  buoyant,  yet  proof  against 
cold  draughts;  and  there  she  was  delighted  to  receive  old 
friends,  with  a  soft  look  of  gratitude  in  large  black  eyes, 
and  a  pretty  little  quiver  of  the  tail  too  wise  to  wag,  for 
fear  of  arousing  their  anxiety.  Pixie,  the  pug,  had  many 


THE    LAW    OF    THE    LAND  109 

qualms  of  jealousy,  as  well  as  some  pangs  of  deep  in- 
terest— for  what  dog,  however  healthy,  could  feel  certain 
in  his  heart  that  he  might  not  be  reduced  to  the  same 
condition  ?  And  he  was  apt  to  get  a  human  kick  when 
he  pressed  his  kind  inquiries. 

But  upon  the  loftier  level  of  anthropic  interests  less  of 
harmony  prevailed,  and  more  of  hot  contention.  The 
widowed  lady  of  the  house  had  felt  her  loss  intensely, 
and  with  the  deeper  pain  because  her  generous  nature  told 
her  of  many  a  time  when  she  had  played  a  part  a  little 
over  the  duty  of  a  loyal  wife.  Her  strong  will  and  rather 
imperious  style  and  widely  different  view-point  had  some- 
times caused  slight  disagreements  between  the  Spanish  lady 
and  the  English  squire  ;  and  now  she  could  not  claim  the 
pleasure  of  having  waived  herself  to  please  him.  But  she 
had  the  sorrow  of  recalling  how  often  she  had  won  the 
victory  and  pushed  it  to  the  utmost,  and  how  seldom  she 
had  owned  herself  in  the  wrong,  even  when  she  had  per- 
ceived it.  A  kinder  and  a  nobler  husband  no  woman  was 
ever  blessed  with ;  and  having  lost  him,  how  could  she 
help  disparaging  every  other  man,  as  a  tribute  to  his 
memory  ? 

Even  with  her  daughter  Inez  she  was  frequently  pro- 
voked when  she  saw  the  tears  of  filial  love  or  heard  the 
unconsidered  sigh.  "What  is  her  loss  compared  with 
mine?"  "But  for  this  child  he  would  have  loved  me 
more."  "  Shallow  young  creature,  like  a  tinkling  zither 
— she  will  start  a  new  tune  in  a  week  or  two."  Such  were 
her  thoughts ;  but  she  kept  them  to  herself,  and  was  an- 
gry with  herself  for  forming  them. 

So  it  may  be  supposed  what  her  fury  was,  or  rather  her 
boundless  and  everlasting  rage,  when  she  heard  of  the 
miscreant  villany  which  could  not  long  be  concealed  from 
her.  Her  favourite  maid,  Tamar  Haddon,  was  the  one 
who  first  let  fall  an  unwary  word  ;  and  that  young  woman 
received  a  shock  which  ought  to  have  disciplined  her 
tongue  for  life.  With  a  gaze,  and  a  gesture  there  was 
no  withstanding,  her  mistress  tore  out  of  her  everything 
she  knew,  and  then  with  a  power  of  self-control  which 
few  men  could  have  equalled,  she  ordered  the  terrified 
damsel  away,  and  sat  down  alone  to  think  miserably. 


110  PEELYCROSS 

How  long  she  stayed  thus  was  unknown  to  any,  for 
Tamar  made  off  with  all  speed  to  her  room,  and  was  seized 
with  a  fit  of  hysterics.  But  the  lady's  only  movement  was 
to  press  one  hand  upon  her  labouring  heart.  By-and-by 
she  rose,  and  unlocked  the  door  of  her  little  oratory — a 
place  not  very  often  favoured  with  her  presence.  There 
she  took  down  a  crucifix  of  ivory — not  the  Indian,  but 
the  African,  which  hardens  and  whitens  with  the  lapse  of 
years,  though  green  at  first,  as  truth  is — and  she  set  it 
upon  a  velvet  shelf  and  looked  at  it  without  much  rever- 
ence. In  the  stormy  times  when  Spain  was  writhing  under 
the  heel  of  an  infidel,  her  daughters  lost  their  religious 
grounding  and  gained  fierce  patriotism.  "My  country  is 
my  God,"  was  a  copy  set  in  schools. 

At  first  she  looked  with  scorn  and  pity  at  such  meek 
abandonment.  What  had  her  will  and  heart  to  do  with 
mild  submission,  drooping  head,  and  brow  of  wan  benig- 
nity ?  But  the  sculptor  had  told  more  than  that.  He 
had  filled  the  Sufferer's  face  with  love,  and  thrilled  the 
gaze  of  death  with  sweet  celestial  compassion.  So  well 
had  the  human  hand  conveyed  the  tender  heart  of 
Heaven. 

The  sting  of  mortal  injuries  began  to  grow  less  venom- 
ous. The  rancorous  glare  was  compelled  to  soften,  and 
suffused  with  quivering  tears.  She  had  come  to  have  a 
curse  attested  and  a  black  vow  sanctified;  but  earthly 
wrong  and  human  wrath  were  quelled  before  the  ruth  of 
Heaven  and  conquest  of  the  Tortured  One.  She  fell  upon 
her  knees  and  laid  her  hands  upon  the  spike-torn  feet;  and 
her  face  became  that  of  a  stricken  woman,  devoted  to  sor- 
row, but  not  to  hate. 

How  long  this  higher  influence  would  last  is  quite 
another  point,  especially  with  a  woman.  But  it  proved  at 
least  that  she  was  not  altogether  narrow  and  hard  and 
arrogant.  Then  she  went  to  her  bed  and  wept  for  hours; 
and  perhaps  her  reason  was  saved  thereby.  At  any  rate, 
her  household,  which  had  been  in  wretched  panic,  was 
saved  from  the  fearful  outburst  and  the  timid  cast-up  of 
their  wages. 

On  the  following  morning  she  was  calm,  at  least  to  all 
outward  semblance,  and  said  not  a  word  .to  any  one  of  the 


THE    LAW   OF   THE    LAND  111 

shock  she  had  suffered  yesterday.  But  as  soon  as  busi- 
ness-time allowed  she  sent  for  Mr.  Webber,  the  most  active 
member  of  the  steady  firm  in  which  her  husband  had 
placed  confidence.  He  was  good  enough  to  come  at  once, 
although,  as  he  told  his  nervous  wife,  he  would  have  pre- 
ferred an  interview  with  the  lioness  who  had  just  escaped 
from  a  travelling  menagerie. 

But,  like  all  other  terrors,  when  confronted,  this  proved 
tolerably  docile;  and  upon  his  return  he  described  this 
foreign  lady's  majestic  beauty  and  angelic  fortitude  in 
warmer  terms  than  his  wife  thought  needful  over  his  own 
mahogany.  After  recounting  all  he  knew,  and  being  heard 
with  patience,  he  had  taken  instructions  which  he  thought 
sagacious  and  to  the  purpose,  for  they  were  chiefly  of  his 
own  suggestion. 

Now  this  Mr.  Webber  was  a  shrewd,  as  well  as  a  very 
upright  man,  but  of  rather  hasty  temperament,  and  in 
many  of  his  conclusions  led  astray,  without  the  least  sus- 
picion of  it,  by  prejudices  and  private  feelings.  One  of 
his  favourite  proverbs  was,  "A  straw  will  show  how  the 
wind  blows" — and  the  guiding  straw  for  him  was  prone  to 
float  on  the  breath  of  his  own  favour.  Although  he  knew 
little  of  Dr.  Fox,  he  was  partly  prepared  to  think  ill  of 
him,  according  to  the  following  inclination. 

Waldron  Webber,  the  lawyer's  eldest  son,  and  godson 
of  the  brave  Sir  Thomas,  had  shown  no  capacity  for  the 
law,  and  little  for  anything  else  except  a  good  thumb  for 
the  gallipots.  Good  friends  said,  "  What  a  doctor  he  will 
make !"  and  his  excellent  mother  perceived  the  genius,  and 
felt  how  low  it  would  be  to  lament  that  such  gifts  were 
seldom  lucrative  till  half  the  life  is  over.  So  the  second 
son  took  to  the  ruler  and  the  elder  to  the  pestle,  instru- 
ments of  equal  honour,  but  of  different  value.  And  Wal- 
dron, although  his  kind  father  had  bought  him  a  snug 
little  practice  at  Perlycombe,  was  nibbling  at  the  bottom 
of  the  bag  at  home  while  his  brother  cast  in  at  the  top 
of  it. 

Why  was  this  ?  Simply  because  young  Fox,  the  heir  of 
a  wealthy  family,  had  taken  it  into  his  wicked  head  to 
drop  down  from  the  clouds  at  Perlycross.  It  was  true 
that  he  had  bought  a  practice  there;  but  his  predecessor 


112  PEKLYCROSS 

had  been  a  decent  fellow,  observing  the  rules  of  the  pro- 
fession. If  a  man  could  not  pay  for  it,  let  him  not  be  ill; 
or,  at  any  rate,  go  to  the  workhouse  and  be  done  for  in  the 
lump.  But  this  interloper  was  addicted  to  giving  tick  un- 
limited, or  even  remission  of  all  charges,  and  a  cure — when 
nature  would  not  be  denied — without  the  patient  paying 
for  it,  if  he  had  no  money.  One  thing  was  certain — this 
could  not  last  long.  But  meanwhile  a  doctor  of  common- 
sense  was  compelled  to  appeal  to  his  parents. 

"All  cannot  be  right,"  Mr.  Webber  senior  had  observed, 
with  emphasis,  when  he  heard  the  same  tale  from  his  son's 
bosom  friend,  Jervis  Jackson,  of  Perliton ;  "there  are  cer- 
tain rules,  my  dear,  essential  to  the  existence  of  all  sound 
professions,  and  one  of  the  most  fundamental  is,  to  en- 
courage nobody  who  cannot  pay.  This  Fox  must  be  a 
sadly  radical  young  man,  though  his  family  is  most 
respectable.  Mischief  will  come  of  it,  in  my  firm 
opinion." 

The  mischief  was  come,  and  in  a  darker  form  than  the 
soundest  lawyer  could  anticipate.  Mr.  Webber  lamented 
it,  and  his  wife  (who  had  seen  Jemmy  waltzing  at  a  Taun- 
ton  ball  with  one  of  her  pretty  daughters,  had  been  edified 
with  castles  in  the  air)  lifted  up  her  hands,  and  re- 
fused to  listen  to  it;  until  she  thought  of  her  dear  son. 
"  If  it  is  the  will  of  God,"  she  said,  "  we  must  accept  it, 
Theodore." 

But  this  resignation  is  not  enough  for  an  attorney  with 
a  criminal  case  in  hand.  Lady  Waldron  had  urged  de- 
spatch, and  he  knew  that  she  was  not  to  be  trifled  with. 
He  had  taken  the  blacksmith's  deposition,  which  began  as 
if  his  head  were  on  the  anvil,  as  well  as  Farmer  John's  and 
Channing's  and  that  of  Mr.  Jakes,  the  school-master.  And 
now  it  was  come  to  Monday  night,  and  nothing  had  been 
heard  of  Fox. 

But  it  was  not  so  easy  to  know  what  to  do.  There  was 
no  police  force  as  yet  to  be  invoked  with  certainty  of 
some  energy,  and  the  Bow-Street  Runners,  as  they  were 
called — possibly  because  they  never  ran — had  been  of  no 
service  in  such  cases,  even  when  induced  to  take  them  up. 
Recourse  must  be  had  to  the  ancient  gear  of  magistrate 
and  constable,  for  to  move  any  higher  authorities  would 


THE    LAW   OF    THE    LAND  113 

require  time  and  travel.  Strong  suspicion  there  might 
be,  but  no  strong  chain  of  evidence ;  for  no  connection 
could  be  established  (whatever  might  be  the  inference) 
between  the  occurrence  at  Susscot  and  the  sacrilege  at 
Perlycross. 

Moreover,  our  ancient  laws  are  generally  rough  and  brisk 
and  able-bodied  to  stick  out  bravely  for  the  purse,  but  leave 
the  person  to  defend  itself.  If  it  cannot  do  this  after 
death,  let  it  settle  the  question  with  its  Maker ;  for  it 
cannot  contribute  to  the  realm,  and  belongs  to  the  resur- 
rection. This  larger  view  of  the  matter  will  explain  to  the 
live  content  how  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Legislature  (while 
providing,  for  the  healthy  use  of  anatomy,  the  thousands 
of  criminal  bodies  despatched  for  the  good  of  their  choicer 
brethren)  failed  to  perceive  any  duty  towards  those  who 
departed  this  life  in  the  fear  of  God,  after  paying  their 
rates  and  taxes  for  the  term  prescribed  by  heavenly  stat- 
ute. In  a  word,  when  the  wicked  began  to  fall  short — 
through  clemency  human  or  divine — no  man  of  the  high- 
est respectability  could  make  sure  of  what  he  left  behind. 
Only,  by  the  ancient  common  law,  to  dig  him  up  again 
without  a  faculty  was  indictable  as  a  misdemeanour. 

Mr.  Webber  was  familiar  with  all  these  truths,  and 
obliged  to  be  careful  of  their  import.  If  the  theft  of  a  sheep 
could  be  brought  home  to  Fox,  the  proceeding  would  have 
been  more  simple  and  the  penalties  far  heavier.  But,  for 
his  enemies,  the  social  outrage  was  the  thing  to  look  at. 
As  it  stood,  there  was  small  chance  yet  of  saddling  the 
culprit  with  legal  guilt ;  nevertheless,  if  the  tide  of  gen- 
eral opinion  set  against  him,  even  the  noblest  medical 
science  must  fail  to  make  head  against  it.  And  the  first 
step  was  to  give  some  public  form  to  the  heinous  accusa- 
tion without  risk  of  enormous  damages.  Hence  the  ap- 
plication to  Mr.  Mockham,  under  the  name  of  Tapscott,  as 
before  related,  and  justly  refused  by  that  magistrate. 

Mr.  Webber,  of  course,  did  not  appear,  nor  allow  his 
name  to  be  quoted,  knowing  how  small  the  prospect  was 
of  the  issue  of  a  warrant.  But  his  end  was  gained,  for 
all  who  were  present — including  the  magistrate  himself — - 
left  the  place  with  dark  and  strong  suspicion  against  the 
absent  doctor.  The  question  now  was  certain  to  be  taken 


114  PERLYCROSS 

up  by  county  journals ;  whereupon  the  accused  might  well 
be  trusted  to  do  something  foolish,  even  if  nothing  more 
were  learned  from  the  stealthy  watch  kept  on  him. 

There  was  much  to  justify  this  view  ;  for  Fox  did  many 
foolish  things,  and  even  committed  blunders  such  as  none 
but  the  sagest  of  the  sage  could  avoid  in  his  position.  He 
was  young  and  hot  of  blood,  and  raging  at  the  sweet 
readiness  of  his  friends — as  such  dastards  dared  to  call 
themselves — to  accept  the  wicked  charge  against  him  on 
such  worthless  evidence.  Now  was  the  time  for  any  gen- 
erous nature  to  assert  itself ;  for  any  one  with  a  grain  of 
faith,  or  even  of  common  charity,  to  look  him  in  the  face 
and  grasp  his  hand,  and  exclaim  with  honest  anger,  "Not 
a  word  of  those  cursed  lies  do  I  believe.  You  are  an 
honest  fellow,  Jemmy,  whatever  skulks  and  sneaks  may 
say ;  and  if  any  one  says  it  in  my  presence,  down  he  goes 
like  a  dabchick." 

Did  any  one  do  this  of  all  who  had  been  so  much 
obliged  to  him,  or  even  of  those  who  without  that  had 
praised  him  in  his  prosperous  days  and  been  proud  of 
his  acquaintance  ?  It  made  his  young  heart  cold  with 
bitterness,  and  his  kind  eyes  flash  with  scorn,  when  even 
young  fellows  of  healthy  nature,  jovial  manners,  and  care- 
less spirit,  spied  something  of  deepest  interest  across  the 
road  as  he  came  by ;  or  favoured  him  with  a  distant  nod, 
and  a  passing  "  How  doo,  doctor  ?"  perhaps  with  an 
emphasis  on  the  title,  suggestive  of  dissection.  It  was 
enough  to  sour  any  man  of  even  bright  intelligence  and 
fair  discrimination ;  for  large  indeed  is  the  heart  of  him, 
and  heavenly  his  nature,  who  does  not  judge  of  his  breth- 
ren by  their  behaviour  to  this  brother. 

Yet  there  were  some  few  who  did  behave  to  this  poor 
brother  as  if  they  had  heard  of  the  name  of  Christ,  or 
deserved,  in  a  way,  to  do  so.  These  were  the  very  poor, 
who  feel  some  gratitude  for  kindness;  because  it  comes 
not  as  a  right,  but  as  a  piece  of  rare  luck  to  them.  "  'Tis 
nort  to  I  what  the  lad  hath  dooed,  and  I'll  never  belave  a' 
dooed  it.  If  it  worn't  for  he  our  little  Johnny  would  be 
in  church-yard,  instead  of  's  cot."  So  spake  one  or  two; 
and  if  the  reasoning  was  unsound,  why,  then,  so  much  the 
worse  for  reason. 


THE    LAW    OF   THE    LAND  115 

But  a  fine  young  farmer  of  the  name  of  Gilham  (a  man 
who  worked  hard  for  his  widowed  mother  at  the  north- 
west end  of  the  parish)  came  forward  like  a  brave  Eng- 
lishman, and  left  no  doubt  about  his  opinion.  This  young 
man  was  no  clodhopper,  but  had  been  at  a  Latin  school, 
founded  by  a  great  high -priest  of  the  Muses  in  the  woollen 
line,  and  worthy  of  the  infula.  Gilham  had  shown  some 
aptness  there,  and  power  in  the  resurrection  of  languages, 
called  dead  by  those  who  would  have  no  life  without 
them.  His  farm  was  known  as  the  "  White  Post,"  be- 
cause it  began  with  a  grand  old  proof  of  the  wisdom  of 
our  ancestors.  Upon  the  mighty  turnpike-road  from  Lon- 
don even  to  Devonport  no  trumpery  stick  of  foreign  fir, 
but  a  massive  column  of  British  oak  had  been  erected  in 
solid  times  for  the  benefit  of  wayfarers.  If  a  couple  of 
them  had  been  hanged  there,  as  tradition  calmly  said  of 
them,  it  was  only  because  they  stopped  the  others,  and 
owed  them  this  enlightenment. 

Frank  Gilham  knew  little  of  Dr.  Fox,  and  had  never 
swallowed  physic ;  which  may  have  had  something  to  do, 
perhaps,  with  his  genial  view  of  the  subject. 

"A  man  is  a  man,"  he  said  to  his  mother,  as  if  she 
were  an  expert  in  the  matter ;  "  and  Fox  rides  as  straight 
as  any  man  I  ever  saw  when  his  horse  has  not  done  too 
much  parish  work.  What  should  I  do  if  people  went 
against  me  like  this,  and  wouldn't  even  stand  up  to  their 
own  lies  ?  That  old  John  Horner  is  a  pompous  ass,  and 
Crang  loses  his  head  with  a  young  horse  by  daylight. 
Where  would  his  wits  be,  pulled  out  of  bed  at  night,  with 
a  resurrection-man  standing  over  him  ?  I  am  thoroughly 
ashamed  of  the  parish,  mother;  and  though  some  of  our 
land  is  under  Lady  Waldron,  I  shall  go  and  see  Fox,  and 
stick  up  for  him." 

So  he  did  ;  and  though  he  was  a  younger  man  than 
Jemmy,  and  made  no  pretence  of  even  offering  advice,  his 
love  of  fair  play  and  fine  healthy  courage  were  more  than 
a  houseful  of  silver  and  gold,  or  a  legion  of  soldiers  direct 
from  heaven. 


CHAPTEK    XIV 
REASONING    WITHOUT    REASON 

ONE  of  the  most  unlucky  things  that  could  befall  an 
unlucky  man  in  the  hour  of  tribulation  had  befallen  that 
slandered  Fox ;  to  wit,  the  helpless  condition  of  the  lead- 
ing spirit  and  most  active  head  in  the  troubled  parish  of 
Perlycross.  Mr.  Penniloe  was  mending  slowly ;  but  his 
illness  had  been  serious,  and  the  violent  chill  in  a  low 
state  of  health  had  threatened  to  cause  inflammation  of 
the  lungs.  To  that  it  would  have  led,  there  can  be  little 
doubt,  but  for  the  opportune  return  of  Fox,  and  the  speedy 
expulsion  of  Jackson.  Now  the  difficulty  was  to  keep  the 
curate  quiet ;  and  his  great  anxiety  to  get  to  work  pro- 
longed the  disability,  even  as  a  broken  arm  in  splinters  is 
not  likely  to  do  without  them  while  the  owner  works  a 
pump. 

The  doctor  caught  his  patient,  on  the  Friday  morning, 
groping  his  way  through  the  long  dark  tunnel  which  un- 
derran  the  rectory,  and  just  emerging,  with  crafty  triumph, 
into  the  drive  by  his  own  main  gate.  Thyatira  was  gone 
to  Jakes  the  butcher,  after  locking  the  front  door  and 
carrying  off  the  key.  The  parson  looked  miserably  thin 
and  wan,  but  proud  of  this  successful  sortie.  He  was 
dressed  as  if  for  action  in  his  Sunday  clothes,  though  tot- 
tering on  his  black -varnished  stick;  while  his  tortoise- 
shell  eye-glass  upon  its  watered  ribbon  dangled  across  his 
shrunken  chest.  But  suddenly  all  his  scheme  collapsed. 

"  Ah,  ah,  ah !"  he  began  with  his  usual  exclamation, 
while  his  delicate  face  fell  sadly,  and  his  proud  simper 
waned  into  a  nervous  smile ;  "  fine  morning,  Fox  ;  I  hope 
you  are  quite  well — pleasant  morning  for  a  walk." 

"  It  may  be  pleasant,"  returned  the  doctor,  trying  to 
look  most  awful ;  "  but  like  many  other  pleasant  things 


REASONING    WITHOUT   REASON  117 

it  is  wrong.  Will  you  do  me  the  honour  to  take  my 
arm  ?" 

Fox  hooked  the  baffled  parson  by  the  elbow,  and  gently 
led  him  towards  his  own  front  door,  guilty  looking,  sadly 
smiling,  striving  vainly  to  walk  as  if  he  were  fit  to  contest 
a  hurdle-race.  But  the  cup  of  his  shame  was  not  full 
yet. 

"  Oh,  sir,  oh !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Muggridge,  rushing  in 
from  the  street  with  a  dish  of  lamb's  fry  reposing  among 
its  parsley.  "  I  never  would  have  believed  it,  sir,  if  an 
angel  was  to  speak  the  words.  To  think  that  he  have 
come  to  this !" 

"  She  refers  to  my  moral  condition,  I  fear  " — Mr.  Pen- 
niloe  held  his  head  down,  while  the  key  he  had  thought 
to  elude  was  used  to  restore  him  to  safer  durance.  "  Well, 
perhaps  I  was  wrong ;  but  I  only  meant  to  go  a  very  short 
way,  I  assure  you ;  only  as  far  as  the  spot  where  my  dear 
old  friend  is  sleeping." 

"  What  a  blessing  as  we  caught  you,  sir !"  cried  the  im- 
pulsive Muggridge ;  while  her  master  looked  up  in  sharp 
wonder,  and  the  doctor  frowned  at  her  clumsiness. 

"  Not  to  the  repairs,  sir  ?  Oh,  come,  come,  come  !" 
Jemmy  cut  in  rapidly,  with  this  attractive  subject. 

"  No,  not  even  to  the  repairs,  or  I  might  even  say — the 
arrest  of  ruin.  Without  the  generosity  of  my  dear  friend 
we  never  should  have  achieved  so  much  for  the  glory  of 
— I  will  not  speak  proudly — for  the  doing  up  of  our  old 
church.  Those  who  should  have  been  foremost — but  no 
doubt  they  had  good  reason  for  buttoning  up  their  pock- 
ets. Comparatively,  I  mean,  comparatively ;  for  they 
really  did  give  something.  Possibly,  all  that  they  could 
afford." 

"  Or  all  they  thought  they  couldn't  help.  It  was  very 
hard  upon  them,  sir.  But  you  are  getting  into  a  rebel- 
lious humour.  Sit  down  by  the  fire,  and  allow  me  to  ex- 
amine you." 

"  I  will  carry  my  rebellion  further,"  said  the  invalid,  af- 
ter sitting  down.  "  I  know  how  kind  you  have  been  to 
me,  kinder  by  far  than  I  ever  could  deserve.  And  I  be- 
lieve it  was  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  that  delivered  me 
from  Jackson.  lie  meant  well ;  but  he  cannot  be  positive 


118  PERLYCROSS 

whether  the  lungs  should  be  higher  up  or  deeper  down 
than  the  liver.  I  have  been  examined,  and  examiner  as 
well,  at  Oxford,  and  in  some  public  schools ;  but  the  ques- 
tion has  never  arisen  ;  and  1  felt  myself  unable  to  throw 
any  light  on  it.  Still  it  struck  me  that  he  ought  to  know, 
as  a  properly  qualified  medical  man." 

"  No,  sir,  no.  That  is  quite  a  trifle.  That  should  never 
have  lessened  your  confidence  in  him."  Dr.  Fox  spoke  so 
gravely  that  Mr.  Penniloe  was  angry  with  his  own  inside. 

"  Well,  after  all,  the  mind  and  soul  are  the  parts  that 
we  should  study.  I  see  that  I  have  wronged  poor  Jack- 
son, and  I  will  apologize.  But  what  I  have  to  say  to  you 
is  this,  even  if  I  am  not  to  take  a  walk,  I  must  be  allowed 
some  communication  with  people  of  the  parish.  I  have 
no  idea  what  is  going  on.  I  am  isolated  as  if  I  had  the 
plague,  or  the  cholera  of  three  years  ago.  Let  me  see 
Channing,  or  Jakes,  or  Mr.  Homer,  or  even  Robson  Ad- 
ney." 

"  In  a  day  or  two,  sir.  You  are  'getting  stronger  fast, 
and  we  must  not  throw  you  back.  You  must  have  a  lit- 
tle patience.  Not  a  service  has  been  missed,  and  you 
can  do  no  good." 

"  That  may  be  true,"  said  the  parson,  with  a  sigh.  "  Un- 
happily they  always  tell  me  that,  but  it  does  not  absolve 
me.  All  my  duties  are  neglected  now.  Three  pupils,  and 
not  a  lesson  have  I  heard  them.  How  can  that  new  boy 
get  on  without  me?  A  very  odd  youth,  from  all  that  I 
am  told.  He  will  require  much  attention.  No,  no,  it  will 
never  do,  Fox.  I  know  how  kind  everybody  has  been  in 
doing  with  only  one  sermon,  and  the  Lord  has  provided 
an  uncommonly  good  man.  But  I  feel  as  if  there  was 
something  wrong.  I  am  sure  you  are  hiding  something 
from  me.  I  am  not  allowed  to  see  anybody,  and  even 
Fay  looks  odd  sometimes,  as  if  the  others  were  puzzling 
her.  And  the  pupils,  too,  must  have  heard  of  something 
bad ;  for  poor  little  Michael  has  been  forbidden  to  talk  to 
any  of  them.  What  is  it?  It  would  hurt  me  less  to 
know  than  to  keep  on  wondering,  and  probably  imagine 
it  worse  than  it  is.  And  good  or  bad  for  my  bodily 
health,  my  first  duty  is  not  to  myself,  but  to  those  in- 
trusted to  me." 


REASONING    WITHOUT   REASON  119 

Mr.  Penniloe  had  spoken  with  more  excitement  than  he 
often  showed  when  in  his  usual  health,  and  the  doctor 
had  observed  it  with  some  alarm.  But  he  had  long  fore- 
seen that  this  must  come,  and  it  might  come  in  a  more 
abrupt  and  dangerous  manner  when  he  was  out  of  reach. 
So  he  made  up  his  mind  at  once,  and  spoke  without  fur- 
ther hesitation. 

"  Yes,  sir,  a  most  disgraceful  thing  has  happened  in  this 
parish,  and  it  is  better  perhaps  that  you  should  know  it 
than  be  kept  in  the  dark  any  longer.  But  you  must  not 
be  angry  with  me,  though  I  have  given  all  the  orders 
which  puzzled  you.  It  was  not  for  my  own  sake,  you  may 
be  sure ;  for  God  only  knows  how  much  I  have  longed 
for  your  advice  in  this  miserable  affair.  And  yet,  before 
I  tell  you,  you  must  promise  to  do  nothing  whatever  about 
it  for  at  least  three  days.  By  that  time  you  will  be  your- 
self again,  if  we  can  keep  you  quiet,  and  if  you  take  this 
sad  blow  with  your  usual  strength  of  mind  and  piety." 

The  parson  began  to  tremble,  and  the  blue  lines  on  his 
delicate  forehead  shone  like  little  clews  of  silk.  He  fin- 
gered his  open  glasses,  and  began  to  raise  them,  until  it 
struck  him  that  he  might  seem  rude  if  he  thus  inspected 
Fox  throughout  his  narrative.  A  rude  act  was  impossible 
to  him ;  so  he  leaned  back  in  his  ancient  chair  and  sim- 
ply said,  "  Be  quick,  my  friend,  if  you  can  thus  oblige 
me." 

The  young  man  watched  him  very  narrowly,  while  he 
told  his  dreadful  tale  ;  and  Thyatira  in  the  passage  sobbed 
and  opened  her  smelling-bottle,  for  she  had  been  making 
urgent  signs  and  piteous  appeals  from  the  background  to 
the  doctor  to  postpone  this  trial.  But  her  master  only 
clasped  his  hands  and  closed  his  quivering  eyelids.  With- 
out a  word  he  heard  the  whole,  though  little  starts  and 
twitching  lips  and  jerkings  of  his  gaitered  foot,  made 
manifest  that  self-control  was  working  at  high  pressure. 

"  And  who  has  done  this  inhuman  thing  ?"  asked  Mr. 
Penniloe,  at  last,  after  hoping  that  he  need  not  speak  un- 
til he  felt  that  he  could  speak.  "  Such  things  have  been 
done  about  Bristol,  but  never  in  our  county.  And  my 
dear  friend,  my  best  friend  Tom !  We  dare  not  limit  the 
mercy  of  God  ;  for  what  are  we  ?  Ah,  what  are  we  ?  But 


120  PERLYCEOSS 

speaking  as  a  frail  man  should,  if  there  is  any  crime  on 
earth — "  He  threw  his  handkerchief  over  his  head  ;  for 
what  can  the  holiest  man  pronounce?  And  there  was 
nothing  that  moved  him  more  to  shame  than  even  to  be 
called  a  "  holy  man." 

"  The  worst  of  it  is,"  said  Dr.  Fox,  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,  for  he  loved  this  man,  although  so  unlike  him  in  his 
ways  of  thought ;  "  the  worst  of  it  is — or  at  least  from  a 
wretchedly  selfish  point  of  view,  the  worst — that  all  the 
neighbourhood  has  pitched  upon  the  guilty  person." 

"  Who  is  supposed  to  have  done  this  horribly  wicked 
thing  ?  Not  Gowler  ?" 

"  No,  sir ;  but  somebody  nearer  home.  Somebody  well 
known  in  the  village." 

"  Tell  me  who  it  is,  my  dear  fellow.  I  am  sure  there  is 
no  one  here  who  would  have  done  it." 

"Everybody  else  is  sure  there  is.  And  the  name  of 
the  scoundrel  is — James  Fox." 

"  Fox,  it  is  not  a  time  for  jokes.  If  you  knew  how  I 
feel,  you  would  not  joke." 

"  I  am  not  joking,  sir,"  said  Fox,  and  his  trembling  voice 
confirmed  his  words.  "  The  universal  conclusion  is  that 
I  am  the  villain  that  did  it." 

"  My  dear  friend,  my  noble  fellow !"  The  parson  sprang 
up  on  his  feeble  legs,  and  took  both  of  Jemmy's  strong 
thick  hands  in  his  quivering  palms  and  looked  at  him  ;  "  I 
am  ashamed  of  my  parish,  and  of  myself,  as  a  worthless 
labourer.  And  with  this  crushing  lie  upon  you,  you  have 
been  tending  me,  day  and  night,  and  shown  not  a  sign  of 
your  bitter  disdain !" 

"  I  knew  that  you  would  acquit  me,  sir,  and  what  did  I 
care  for  the  rest  of  them  ?  Except  one,  of  course — well, 
you  know  what  I  mean ;  and  I  must  now  give  up  all  hope 
of  that.  Now  take  a  little  of  this  strengthening  stuff,  and 
rest  for  a  couple  of  hours." 

"  I  will  take  the  stuff,  but  I  will  not  rest  until  you  have 
told  me  upon  what  grounds  this  foul  accusation  has  been 
brought.  That  I  should  be  in  this  helpless  state,  when  I 
ought  to  go  from  house  to  house — truly,  the  ways  of  Prov- 
idence are  beyond  our  poor  understanding." 

The  young  man  told  him  in  a  few  hot  words  upon  what 


REASONING   WITHOUT   REASON  121 

a  flimsy  tale  his  foes  had  built  this  damning  charge,  and 
how  lightly  those  who  called  themselves  his  friends  had 
been  ready  to  receive  it.  He  had  had  a  long  interview 
with  Crang,  and  had  shaken  the  simple  blacksmith's  faith 
in  his  own  eyes  ;  and  that  was  all.  Owing  to  the  sharp 
frost  of  the  night,  there  was  no  possibility  of  following  the 
track  of  the  spring-cart  up  the  road,  though  its  course  had 
first  been  eastward,  and  in  the  direction  of  the  Old  Barn. 
For  the  same  reason,  all  attempts  had  failed  in  the  imme- 
diate scene  of  the  outrage ;  and  the  crisp  white  frost  had 
settled  on  bruised  herbage  and  heavy  footmark. 

"  There  is  nothing  more  to  be  done  in  that  way  " — the 
doctor  finished,  with  a  bitter  smile — "  their  luck  was  in 
the  right  scale,  and  mine  in  the  wrong  one,  according  to  the 
usual  rule.  Now  what  do  you  advise  me  to  do,  dear  sir  ?" 

"  I  am  never  very  quick,  as  some  men  are,"  Mr.  Penni- 
loe  replied,  without  even  the  reproof  which  he  generally 
administered  to  those  who  spoke  of  "  luck."  "  I  am  slow 
in  perceiving  the  right  course,  when  it  is  a  question  of 
human  sagacity.  But  the  Lord  will  guide  this  for  our 
good.  Allow  me  to  think  it  over,  and  to  make  it  a  sub- 
ject of  earnest  prayer." 

Fox  was  well  content  with  this,  though  his  faith  in 
prayer  was  limited.  But  he  knew  that  the  clergyman  was 
not  of  those  who  plead  so  well  that  the  answer  tallies 
with  their  inclinations.  For  such  devoted  labourers,  when 
a  nice  preferment  comes  in  view,  lay  it  before  the 
"  Throne  of  Grace ;"  and  the  heavenly  order  always  is, 
"  Go  thou  into  the  fatter  Vineyard."  Mr.  Penniloe  had 
not  found  it  thus,  when  a  college  living  was  offered  to 
him  as  a  former  Fellow,  at  a  time  when  he  and  his  wife 
could  scarce  succeed  in  making  both  ends  meet.  The 
benefice  being  in  a  part  of  Wales  where  the  native  tongue 
alone  prevailed,  his  ministry  could  be  blessed  to  none  but 
the  occupants  of  the  rectory.  Therefore  he  did  not  pray 
for  guidance,  but  for  grace  to  himself  and  wife — especially 
the  latter — to  resist  this  temptation  without  a  murmur. 
Therein  he  succeeded,  to  the  huge  delight  of  the  gentleman 
next  upon  the  roll,  and  equally  ignorant  of  Welsh,  whose 
only  prayer  upon  the  occasion  was,  "  Thank  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul!" 


122  PEKLYCKOSS 

In  the  afternoon,  when  Fox  returned  according  to  ar- 
rangement, he  found  his  much -respected  patient  looking 
pale  and  sad,  but  tranquil.  He  had  prayed  as  only  those 
who  are  in  practice  can  accomplish  it ;  and  his  countenance 
showed  that  mind  and  heart,  as  well  as  soul,  were  forti- 
fied. His  counsel  to  Fox  was  to  withstand,  and  not  to  be 
daunted  by  the  most  insidious  stratagem  of  the  Evil  One 
— whose  existence  was  more  personal  in  those  days  than  it 
now  appears,  and  therefore  met  more  gallantly ;  to  pay  no 
heed  to  furtive  looks,  sly  whispers,  cold  avoidance,  or  even 
spiteful  insults,  but  to  carry  himself  as  usual,  and  show  an 
example  to  the  world  of  a  gentleman  and  a  Christian. 

Fox  smiled  in  his  sleeve,  for  his  fist  was  sore  with 
knocking  down  three  low  cads  that  day ;  but  he  knew 
that  the  advice  was  sound,  and  agreed  with  that  of  Squire 
Mockham,  only  it  was  more  pacific,  and  grounded  on  larger 
principles. 

"  And  now,  my  dear  young  friend,"  the  parson  continued, 
very  earnestly,  "  there  are  two  things  I  have  yet  to  speak 
of,  if  you  will  not  think  me  intrusive.  You  ought  to  have 
some  one  in  the  Old  Barn  to  comfort  and  to  cheer  you. 
The  evenings  are  very  long  and  dark,  and  now  I  suppose 
you  will  have  to  spend  the  greater  part  of  them  at  home. 
Even  without  such  trouble  as  yours,  a  lonely  man  is  apt  to 
become  depressed  and  sometimes  bitter.  I  have  heard 
you  speak  of  your  sister,  I  think — your  only  sister,  I  be- 
lieve— and  if  your  father  could  spare  her — " 

"  My  father  is  much  stronger,  sir.  But  I  could  not  think 
of  bringing  Christie  here.  Why,  it  would  be  wretched 
for  her.  And  if  anybody  insulted  her — " 

"  Who  could  insult  her  in  your  own  house  ?  She  would 
stay  at  home  mostly  in  that  very  quiet  place,  and  have  her 
own  amusements.  She  would  come  across  no  one  but  old 
Betty  and  yourself.  It  would  feel  lonely  at  first,  no  doubt ; 
but  a  loving  sister  would  not  mind  that.  You  would  take 
care  not  to  vex  her  by  speaking  of  any  of  the  slights  you 
suffered,  or  even  referring  to  the  subject  at  all,  whenever 
it  could  be  avoided.  If  it  were  only  for  one  week,  till  you 
get  used  to  this  sad  state  of  things,  what  a  difference  it 
would  make  to  you  !  Especially  if  she  is  of  a  lively  nat- 
ure. What  is  her  character — at  all  like  yours  ?" 


REASONING    WITHOUT    REASON  123 

"  Not  a  bit.  She  lias  ten  times  the  pluck  that  I  have. 
I  should  like  to  hear  any  one  dare  to  say  a  word  against 
me  before  Christie.  But  it  is  not  to  be  thought  of,  my 
dear  sir.  A  pretty  coward  I  should  be  to  bring  a  girl  here 
to  protect  me !" 

"  What  is  her  name  ?  Christine,  I  suppose.  A  very 
good  name  indeed ;  and  I  dare  say  she  deserves  it."  The 
curate  looked  at  Fox,  to  have  his  inference  confirmed,  and 
the  young  man  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh — his  first  for  a 
most  unaccustomed  length  of  time. 

"  Forgive  me,  sir.  I  couldn't  help  it.  I  was  struck 
with  the  contrast  between  your  idea  of  a  Christian  and 
Christie's.  Though  if  any  one  called  her  anything  else 
he  would  have  a  specimen  of  zeal.  For  she  is  of  the  mili- 
tant Christian  order,  girt  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  A 
great  deal  of  St.  Peter,  but  not  an  atom  of  St.  John.  Thor- 
oughly religions,  according  to  her  lights  ;  and  always  in  a 
flame  of  generosity.  Her  contempt  for  any  littleness  is 
something  splendid,  except  when  it  is  found  in  any  one  she 
loves.  She  is  always  endeavouring  to  "  see  herself  from 
the  outside,"  as  she  expresses  it ;  and  yet  she  is  inside  all 
the  time.  Without  any  motive  that  a  man  can  see,  she 
flares  up  sometimes  like  a  rocket,  and  then  she  lies  rolling 
in  self-abasement.  She  is  as  full  as  she  can  be  of  reason- 
ing; and  yet  there  is  not  a  bit  of  reason  in  her.  Yet, 
somehow  or  other,  everybody  is  wonderfully  fond  of 
Christie." 

"  What  a  valuable  addition  to  this  parish !  And  the 
very  one  to  keep  you  up  in  this  mysterious  trial.  She 
would  come  at  once,  of  course;  if  she  is  as  you  describe 
her." 

"  Come,  sir  ?  She  would  fly — or,  at  least,  post  with  four 
horses.  What  a  sensation  in  Perlycross !  But  she  is  not 
the  one  to  live  in  a  cupboard  and  keep  silence.  She  would 
get  up  in  your  pulpit,  sir,  and  flash  away  at  your  church- 
wardens. No,  I  could  not  think  of  bringing  her  into  this 
turmoil.  If  I  did,  it  would  serve  me  right  enough  never 
to  get  out  of  it." 

"Very  well;  we  shall  see,"  Mr.  Penniloe  said,  quietly, 
having  made  up  his  mind,  after  Fox's  description,  to 
write  for  this  doughty  champion,  whatever  offence  might 


124  PEELYCROSS 

come  of  it.  "  Now  one  other  matter,  and  a  delicate  one. 
Have  you  seen  Lady  Waldron  since  this  terrible  occur- 
rence ?" 

"  No ;  I  have  feared  to  go  near  the  house.  It  must 
be. so  awful  for  them.  It  is  horrible  enough  for  me,  God 
knows.  But  I  am  ashamed  to  think  of  my  own  trouble 
in  comparison  with  theirs.  I  shall  never  have  the  courage 
to  go  near  them." 

"  It  would  be  a  frightful  visit;  and  yet  I  think  that  you 
should  go  there.  But  it  is  most  difficult  to  say.  In  all  the 
dark  puzzles  and  trials  of  this  world,  few  men  have  been 
placed,  I  should  say,  in  such  a  strange  dilemma.  If  you 
go,  you  may  shock  them  beyond  expression.  If  you  don't 
go,  you  must  confirm  their  worst  ideas.  But  there  is  one 
who  holds  you  guiltless." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  you  only  mean — the  Lord,"  Jemmy 
Fox  said,  with  his  eyes  cast  down.  "  It  is  out  of  my  luck 
to  hope  for  more.  He  is  very  good,  of  course — but  then 
He  never  comes  and  does  it.  I  wish  that  you  meant  some 
one  nearer." 

"  My  dear  young  friend,  my  dear  young  friend !  who 
can  be  nearer  to  us?"  The  parson  thought  of  his  own 
dark  times,  and  spoke  with  reproach,  but  not  rebuke.  "  I 
ought  to  have  meant  the  Lord,  no  doubt.  But,  in  plain 
truth,  I  didn't.  I  meant  a  mere  mortal,  like  yourself.  Oh, 
how  we  all  come  down  to  ground !  I  should  have  referred 
to  Providence.  What  a  sad  relapse  from  duty  !" 

"  Relapse  more,  sir !  Relapse  more  !"  cried  the  young 
man,  insisting  on  the  human  vein.  "  You  have  gone  so 
far  that  you  must  speak  out,  as — as  a  messenger  of  good 
tidings." 

"  Really,  Jemmy,  you  do  mix  things  up  " — the  parson's 
eyes  twinkled  at  this  turn  upon  him — "  in  a  very  extraor- 
dinary manner.  You  know  what  I  mean,  without  any 
words  of  mine." 

" But  how  can  you  tell,  sir  ?  Oh,  how  can  you  tell?  If  I 
could  only  be  sure  of  that,  what  should  I  care  for  any- 
thing?" 

"  Young  man,  you  are  sure,"  said  Mr.  Penniloe,  placing 
his  hand  upon  Jemmy's  shoulder;  "or,  if  you  are  not, 
you  are  not  worthy  to  have  faith  in  anything.  Next  to 


REASONING    WITHOUT    REASON  125 

the  word  of  God,  I  place  my  confidence  in  a  woman's 
heart." 

Fox  said  not  another  word.  His  heart  was  as  full  as 
the  older  man's.  One  with  the  faithful  memory,  and  the 
other  with  the  hopeful  faith  of  love.  But  he  kept  out  of 
sight,  and  made  a  stir  with  a  box  of  powders  and  some 
bottles. 

When  he  got  home,  in  a  better  state  of  mind  than  he 
had  been  able  to  afford  for  a  long  time,  out  rushed  some- 
body and  pulled  him  off  his  horse,  and  took  the  whole 
command  of  him  with  kisses. 

"  I  will  never  forgive  you,  never,  never !"  cried  a  voice 
of  clear  music,  out  of  proper  pitch  with  tears.  "To  think 
that  you  have  never  told  me,  Jemmy,  of  all  the  wicked 
things  they  are  doing  to  you  !" 

"  Why,  Christie,  what  on  earth  has  brought  you  here  ? 
Look  out !  You  are  going  all  to  tatters  with  my  spurs ! 
Was  there  ever  such  a  headlong  girl  ?  What's  up  now  ?" 

"It  won't  do,  Jemmy.  Your  poor  mind  is  all  abroad. 
I  saw  the  whole  thing  in  the  Exeter  Gazette.  You  deserve 
to  be  called — anything,  for  behaving  so  to  me." 


CHAPTER  XV 
FRIENDS  AND   FOES 

IN  for  a  penny,  in  for  a  pound.  Throw  the  helve  after 
the  hatchet.  As  well  to  be  hanged  for  a  sheep  as  a  lamb. 
He  that  hath  the  name  may  as  well  enjoy  the  game.  These 
and  other  reckless  maxims  of  our  worthy  grandsires  (which 
they  may  have  exemplified  in  their  own  lives,  but  took  care 
for  their  own  comfort  to  chastise  out  of  their  children) 
were  cited  by  Miss  Christie  Fox  with  very  bright  ferocity 
for  her  poor  brother's  guidance.  It  was  on  the  morning 
after  her  arrival,  when  she  had  heard  everything  there 
was  to  hear,  and  had  taken  the  mastery  of  Old  Barn  as 
if  it  were  her  pony  -  carriage.  Fox  stood  and  looked  at 
her  in  this  queer  old  dwelling-place,  which  had  once  been 
the  tithe-barn  of  the  parish,  but  proving  too  far  from  the 
chief  growth  of  corn  had  been  converted  by  the  Dean  and 
Chapter  into  a  rough  and  rambling  but  commodious  and 
roomy  house  ;  for  the  tithes  of  Perlycross  were  fat,  worthy 
of  a  good  roof  and  stout  walls. 

She  sat  by  the  window  in  the  full  light  of  the  sun — for 
she  never  thought  much  about  her  complexion,  and  no  sun 
could  disparage  it — a  lovely  girl,  with  a  sweet  expression, 
though  manifest  knowledge  of  her  own  mind.  Her  face 
was  not  set  off  by  much  variety  of  light  and  shade,  like 
that  of  Inez  Waldron,  dark  lashes,  or  rich  damask  tint,  or 
contrasts  of  repose  and  warmth  ;  but  pure,  straightforward 
English  beauty  (such  as  lasts  a  lifetime)  left  but  little  to  be 
desired — except  the  good-luck  to  please  it. 

"  There  was  not  too  much  of  her,"  as  her  father  said — 
indeed,  he  never  could  have  enough — and  she  often  felt  it 
a  grievance  that  she  could  not  impress  the  majesty  of  her 
sentiments  through  lack  of  size ;  but  all  that  there  was  of 
her  was  good  stuff ;  and  there  very  well  may  be,  as  a  tall 


FRIENDS    AND    FOES  127 

admirer  of  hers  remarked,  "  a  great  deal  of  love  in  five  feet 
two." 

However,  this  specimen  of  that  stature  had  not  dis- 
covered that  fact  yet,  as  regards  any  other  than  her  own 
kin ;  and  now  with  the  sun  from  over  Hagdon  Hill  throw- 
ing wintry  light  into  her  spring-bright  eyes  she  was  making 
herself  quite  at  home,  as  an  English  girl  always  tries  to 
do,  with  her  own  belongings  about  her,  while  she  was  rail- 
ing at  this  strange  neighbourhood.  Not  that  she  meant 
even  half  of  what  she  said,  but  her  spirit  was  up,  and  be- 
ing always  high  it  required  no  great  leap  to  get  far  above 
the  clouds.  And  her  brother  kept  saying,  "now  you 
don't  mean  that,"  in  a  tone  that  made  her  do  her  very  best 
to  mean  it. 

As  for  avoiding  the  subject,  and  the  rest  of  the  cautious 
policy  suggested  by  the  peaceful  parson,  the  young  lady 
met  that  wise  proposal  with  a  puff  of  breath,  and  nothing 
more.  In  gestures,  and  what  on  a  plainer  face  would  have 
been  called  "  grimaces,"  she  was  so  strong  that  those  who 
had  not  that  short-cut  of  nature  to  the  meaning  of  the 
moment  were  inclined  to  scoff  and  mimic ;  which  they 
could  not  do  at  all,  because  it  was  not  in  them.  Jemmy 
being  some  years  older,  and  her  only  brother,  felt  himself 
responsible  for  the  worst  part  of  her  character.  He  was 
conscious,  when  he  thought  about  it,  that  he  had  spoiled 
her  thoroughly,  from  the  date  of  her  first  crawl  on  the 
floor  until  her  path  in  life  was  settled.  And,  upon  the 
whole,  the  result  was  not  so  bad  as  to  crush  him  with 
much  self-reproach. 

"  All  I  want  is  just  to  have  the  names  of  your  chief 
enemies."  This  valiant  sister,  as  she  spoke,  spread  forth 
an  ivory  deltis,  as  that  arrangement  then  was  called,  a 
baby-fan  with  leaves  of  no  more  substance  than  a  wafer. 
"Have  no  fear,  Jemmy,  I  will  not  kill  them,  unless  my 
temper  rises.  You  are  so  abominably  forgiving  that  I 
dare  say  you  don't  know  their  names." 

"  Not  I,"  said  the  doctor,  beginning  to  fill  his  after- 
breakfast  pipe,  for  now  he  had  no  round  to  make  among 
his  patients  of  the  paying  class  ;  "  Chris,  they  are  all 
alike  ;  they  have  no  ill-will  at  all  against  me,  unless  it  is 
Jackson  and  young  Webber,  and  half  a  dozen  other  muffs, 


128  PERLYCROSS 

perhaps,  with  a  grudge  because  I  have  saved  poor  fellows 
they  were  killing.  I  have  never  interfered  in  any  rich 
man's  case,  so  they  have  no  right  to  be  so  savage." 

"They  are  dummies,"  answered  Christie,  just  waving 
her  hand,  and  then  stopping  it,  as  if  they  were  not  worth 
the  trouble.  "  I  don't  mean  them.  They  could  never  lead 
opinion.  I  mean  people  of  intelligence,  or,  at  any  rate,  of 
influence." 

"  Well,  really,  I  don't  know  any  of  that  sort  who  have 
gone  against  me  openly.  Such  people  generally  wait  to 
hear  both  sides,  unless  their  duty  drags  them  into  it. 
Both  the  church-wardens  are  against  me,  I  believe.  But 
that  must  be  chiefly  because  they  saw  with  their  own  wise 
eyes  what  had  been  done.  You  know,  or  perhaps  you 
don't,  but  I  do,  what  an  effect  is  produced  on  the  average 
mind  by  the  sight  of  anything.  Reason  seems  to  fly,  and 
the  judgment  is  lost.  But  Horner  is  a  very  decent  fellow, 
and  I  have  been  of  some  service  to  his  family.  Farrant  is 
a  man  of  great  honesty  and  sense,  but  carried  away  per- 
haps for  the  moment.  I  hear  that  he  is  coming  round  to 
my  side." 

"Then  I  won't  put  down  either  of  them.  But  come, 
there  must  be  some  one  at  the  head  of  it." 

"  Upon  my  word  I  don't  think  there  is  ;  or,  if  there  is, 
he  keeps  quite  in  the  background.  It  seems  to  be  rather 
a  general  conclusion  than  any  conspiracy  against  me. 
That  makes  it  so  much  harder  to  contend  with.  One 
proof  of  what  I  say  is  that  there  has  been  no  further  ap- 
plication for  a  warrant  since  Mr.  Mockham's  refusal.  If 
there  were  any  bitter  enemy,  he  would  never  have  been 
content  with  that." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,"  replied  sage  Christie,  long- 
ing for  a  foe  more  definite ;  "  I  am  not,  of  course,  a  law- 
yer, though  papa  was  a  magistrate  before  I  was  born,  and 
ever  since ;  and  that  gives  me  a  great  deal  of  insight. 
And  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  some 
one  besides  those  poor  little  pill-grinders — you  see  what 
comes  of  taking  to  the  pill-box,  Jemmy — some  one  of  a 
hateful  nature,  and  low  cunning,  who  is  working  in  the 
dark  against  you.  The  mischief  has  been  done,  and  they 
know  that;  and  they  don't  want  to  give  you  any  chance 


FRIENDS    AND    FOES  129 

of  putting  your  own  case  clearly,  and  confounding  them. 
You  see  that  reel  of  silk  now,  don't  you  ?" 

"  I  see  about  fifty.  What  a  child  you  are  !  Are  you 
going  to  decorate  a  doll's  house  ?" 

"I  never  lose  my  temper  with  you,  dear  Jemmy,  be- 
cause you  are  so  stupid.  But  if  you  can't  see  the  force 
of  it,  I  can.  That  reel  of  silk  is  an  honest  reel,  a  reel  you 
know  how  to  deal  with.  The  end  is  tucked  into  a  nick  at 
the  side,  and  you  set  to  at  once  and  thread  your  needle. 
But  the  one  next  to  it  is  a  rogue — same  colour,  same  size, 
same  everything,  except  that  the  maker  has  hidden  the 
end  to  hide  his  own  short  measure,  so  that  you  may  hunt 
for  it  for  half  an  hour.  Even  a  man  can  see  that,  can't  he  ? 
Very  well,  apply  that  to  this  frightful  affair.  If  your  ene- 
mies would  only  come  forward,  they  would  give  you  a 
chance  to  clear  yourself.  You  would  get  hold  of  the  end 
and  unwind  it,  just  as  I  bite  off  this  knot.  There !  What 
can  be  easier  than  that,  I'd  like  to  know  ?" 

"  You  are  very  clever,  Christie,  but  you  don't  see  the 
real  difficulty.  Who  would  believe  my  denial  on  oath 
any  more  than  they  would  without  it  ?  1  can  offer  no  wit- 
ness except  myself.  The  man  at  the  pits  would  avail  me 
nothing,  even  if  I  could  get  hold  of  him.  There  was 
plenty  of  time  after  I  left  him  for  me  to  have  been  in  the 
thick  of  it.  I  can  prove  no  alibi.  I  have  only  my  word 
to  show  that  I  was  in  this  house  while  the  miscreants 
were  at  work.  It  is  the  blackest  piece  of  luck  that  poor 
George  was  so  tipsy  and  old  Betty  so  buried  in  slumber. 
It  is  no  good  to  deceive  ourselves,  my  dear.  I  shall  never 
be  cleared  of  this  foul  charge  till  the  fellows  who  did  the 
thing  are  found  out." 

This  was  what  Jemmy  had  felt  all  along ;  and  no  one 
knew  better  than  himself  how  nearly  impossible  it  is  to 
bring  such  criminals  to  justice.  But  his  sister  was  not  to 
be  discouraged. 

"  Oh,  as  for  that,  I  shall  just  do  this :  I  have  money  of 
my  own,  or,  at  least,  I  shall  have  a  lot  of  it  when  I  come 
of  age  next  year.  I'll  find  out  the  cleverest  lawyer  about 
here,  a  man  who  is  able  to  enter  into  rogues,  and  I'll  make 
him  advertise  a  great  reward,  and  promise  him  the  same 
for  himself  if  he  succeeds.  That  is  the  only  way  to  make 

6* 


130  PERLYCROSS 

them  look  sharp.  A  thousand  pounds  will  be  sure  to 
tempt  the  poor  dirty  villains  who  must  have  been  em- 
ployed, and  a  thousand  pounds  will  tempt  a  good  lawyer 
to  sell  his  own  wife  and  family.  Free  pardon  to  every  one 
except  the  instigator.  I  wonder  that  you  never  even 
thought  of  that." 

"  I  did  think  of  it  long  ago.  It  is  the  first  thing  that 
occurs  to  an  Englishman  in  any  case  of  wrong-doing. 
But  it  would  be  useless  here.  1  heard  much  of  these 
cases  when  I  was  a  student.  They  are  far  more  frequent 
than  the  outer  world  supposes.  But  I  won't  talk  about  it. 
It  would  only  make  you  nervous.  It  is  not  a  thing  for 
girls  to  dwell  upon." 

"  I  know  that  very  well.  I  don't  want  to  dwell  upon 
it.  Only  tell  me  why  even  a  large  reward  would  not  be 
of  any  service." 

"  Because  there  is  only  a  very  small  gang,  and  a  traitor 
would  never  live  to  get  his  money.  Rewards  have  been 
tried,  but  vainly,  except  in  one  case,  and  then  the  end  was 
dreadful.  For  the  most  part,  they  manage  so  well  that 
no  one  ever  dreams  of  what  has  happened.  In  the  pres- 
ent case,  though  a  most  daring  one,  the  villainy  would 
scarcely  have  been  discovered  except  for  the  poor  little 
faithful  dog.  If  she  had  been  killed  and  thrown  into 
the  river,  perhaps  nothing  would  ever  have  been  heard 
of  it." 

"  Oh,  Jemmy,  what  a  dreadful  thing  to  say  !  But  surely 
you  forget  the  blacksmith  ?" 

"Not  at  all.  His  story  would  have  come  to  nothing 
without  this  to  give  it  special  meaning.  Even  as  it  is, 
no  connection  has  been  proved,  though  of  course  there 
is  a  strong  presumption  between  the  affair  at  Susscot  and 
the  crime  at  Perlycross.  There  was  nothing  to  show 
where  the  cart  came  from.  Those  fellows  travel  miles 
with  them  these  long  nights.  There  is  an  old  chapel- 
yard  at  Monkswell,  more  than  a  mile  from  any  house,  and 
I  firmly  believe — but  I  will  not  talk  about  it." 

"  Then  you  know  who  did  this !  Oh,  Jemmy,  Jemmy, 
is  it  some  horrible  secret  of  your  trade  ?"  Christie  leaped 
up,  and  away  from  her  brother. 

"  I  know  nothing,  except  that  it  happened.     I  have  not 


FRIENDS    AND   FOES  131 

the  least  idea  who  the  scoundrel  is.  Now  no  more  of 
this,  or  you  won't  sleep  to-night." 

"  I  am  not  a  coward — for  a  girl,  at  least.  But  this  is  a 
dark  and  lonely  house.  I  shall  have  my  bed  put  against 
the  partition  of  your  room  before  ever  I  go  into  it  this 
night.  Then  you  can  hear  me  knock  if  I  get  frightened." 

Miss  Fox  sat  down,  and  leaned  her  head  upon  her 
hands  for  a  moment,  as  in  deep  meditation  upon  the 
wrongs  of  humanity ;  and  then  she  announced  the  result 
of  her  thoughts. 

"  One  thing  is  certain.  Even  you  cannot  deny  it.  If 
the  government  of  this  country  allows  such  frightful 
things  to  be  done,  it  is  bound  to  provide  every  woman  in 
the  land  with  a  husband  to  protect  her,  or  at  any  rate  to 
keep  her  courage  up.  If  I  had  seen  that  cart  at  Susscot  I 
should  have  died  with  terror." 

"  Not  you.  But  I  must  make  one  rule,  I  see ;  and  you 
know  there  are  times  when  I  will  be  obeyed.  You  have 
come  here,  my  dear  child,  with  the  greatest  kindness,  and 
no  small  courage  as  well,  just  to  keep  up  my  spirits,  and 
console  me  in  this  trouble.  I  would  never  have  let  you 
come  if  I  had  known  it ;  and  now  I  will  not  have  your 
health  endangered.  Back  you  go  this  very  day,  sad  as  I 
shall  be  without  you,  unless  you  promise  me  two  things : 
one  is  that  you  will  avoid  these  subjects,  although  you 
may  talk  of  my  position;  and  the  other  is  that  you  will 
not  stir  from  this  house  except  in  my  company;  and 
when  you  are  with  me  you  will  be  totally  unconscious  of 
anything  anybody  says  or  looks — uncivil,  unpleasant,  or 
even  uncordial.  You  understand  now  that  I  am  in  earnest." 

Fox  stuck  his  solid  legs  into  a  stiff  position,  and 
crested  up  his  whiskers  with  his  finger-tips ;  which  action 
makes  a  very  fine  impression  on  a  young  man's  younger 
sister. 

"Very  well;  I  agree  to  all  of  that,"  said  Christie,  a 
little  too  airily  for  one  who  is  impressed  with  an  engage- 
ment. "  But  one  thing  I  must  have  before  we  begin  the 
new  code.  Here  are  my  tablets.  As  you  won't  tell  the 
names  of  your  enemies,  Jemmy,  I  must  have  the  names  of 
your  friends  to  set  down.  It  won't  require  many  lines,  I 
fear,  you  gentle  Jemmy." 


132  PEELYCKOSS 

**  Won't  it  ?  Why,  all  the  good  people  about  here  are  on 
my  side,  every  one  of  them.  First,  and  best  of  them  all, 
Philip  Penniloe;  and  then  Mr.  Mockham,  the  magistrate; 
and  then  Sergeant  Jakes,  the  school  -  master ;  and  after 
him  Thyatira  Muggridge,  a  person  of  considerable  influ- 
ence, because  she  takes  hot  meat  or  pudding  in  a  basin  to 
half  the  old  women  in  the  village  whenever  her  master 
can  afford  it,  and  can't  get  through  all  of  it.  That  is  how 
they  put  it,  in  their  grateful  way.  But  it  strengthens  their 
tongues  against  his  enemies,  and  they  seem  to  know  them 
— though  he  doesn't.  Well,  then  there  is  Farrant,  the 
junior  church-warden,  coming  round  fast  to  my  side;  and 
Baker,  the  cooper,  who  made  me  a  tub  for  salting  my  last 
pig ;  and  Channing — not  the  clerk,  he  is  neutral  still,  but 
will  rally  to  my  side  when  I  pay  him  twelve  shillings,  as  I 
shall  do  to-morrow,  for  a  pair  of  corduroys ;  but  Channing 
the  baker,  a  noble  man,  with  a  wife  who  knows  everything 
about  it,  because  she  saw  a  dark  man  over  the  wall  last 
summer,  and  he  would  not  give  his  name.  She  has  caused 
a  reaction  already,  and  is  confident  of  being  right  because 
she  got  upon  a  pair  of  steps.  Oh,  you  must  not  imagine 
that  I  am  forlorn.  And  then  there  is  Frank  Gilham,  last 
not  least,  a  fine  young  fellow,  and  a  thorough  English- 
man." 

"  I  like  that  description.  I  hate  foreigners — as  a  rule  I 
mean,  of  course,"  said  Christie  Fox,  with  a  look  of  large 
candour,  that  proved  what  a  woman  of  the  world  she  was; 
"  there  may  be  good  individuals  among  them,  when  they 
have  come  to  know  what  home-life  means ;  but  take  them 
altogether  they  are  really  very  queer.  But  surely  we  ought 
to  know  a  little  more  as  to  what  it  was  Mrs.  Baker  Channing 
saw ;  and  over  the  church-yard  wall,  you  say." 

"  Waste  of  time,  Christie.  Why,  it  was  back  in  August, 
when  Harrison  Gowler  was  staying  here.  And  it  was  not 
the  church-yard  wall  at  all,  but  the  wall  of  the  rectory  gar- 
den, that  she  peeped  over  in  the  dark.  It  can  have  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that.  Things  come  out  so  oddly. 
You  remember  when  my  poor  Flo  was  poisoned,  how  I 
found  it  out  at  last.  I  never  left  off.  I  wouldn't  leave 
off.  Prying,  listening,  tiptoeing,  even  spying,  without  any 


FRIENDS    AND    FOES  133 

sense  of  shame.  And  I  found  it  out  at  last — at  last ;  and 
didn't  I  have  my  revenge  ?  Oh,  I  would  have  hanged  that 
woman  if  the  law  had  been  worth  a  farthing,  and  stuck 
her  all  over  with  needles  and  pins.' 

"  You  spiteful  and  meanly  vindictive  little  creature  ! 
But  you  never  found  it  out  by  yourself,  after  all.  It  came 
out  quite  by  accident." 

"  Well,  and  so  will  this.  You  take  my  word.  I  dare 
say  I  am  stupid,  but  I  always  prove  right.  Yet  we  are 
bound  to  use  the  means  of  grace,  as  they  tell  us  in  every 
blessed  sermon.  Oh,  come,  I  may  go  and  see  your  pet  par- 
son. I'll  be  bound  I  shall  not  care  for  him  an  atom  of  an 
atom.  I  hate  those  perfect  people;  they  are  such  a  slur 
upon  one.  I  like  a  good  minister,  who  rides  to  hounds  in 
pink,  and  apologizes  to  the  ladies  every  time  he  swears. 
But,  come,  brother  Jemmy,  are  there  no  more  friends  ?  I 
have  put  down  all  you  mentioned,  and  the  list  looks 
very  short.  There  must  be  a  few  more,  for  the  sake  of 
Christianity." 

"  To  be  sure,  there  is  one  more,  and  a  frightfully  zeal- 
ous one — -certain  to  do  more  harm  than  good.  A  mere 
boy,  though  he  flies  into  a  fury  at  the  word.  Mr.  Penni- 
loe's  new  pupil — preparing  for  the  church  by  tearing  all 
across  the  country.  He  breaks  down  all  the  hedges,  and 
lie  drives  the  sheep-dogs  mad.  He  is  mad  as  a  March  hare 
himself,  by  all  accounts ;  but  everybody  likes  him.  His 
name  is  Horatio  Peckover,  but  everybody  calls  him  'Hop- 
per,' by  syncope,  as  we  used  to  say  at  school.  One  of  his 
fellow-pupils,  young  Pike,  who  is  a  very  steady-going  young 
fellow,  and  a  fine  rising  fisherman,  told  me  that  Hopper 
is  double -jointed;  and  they  believe  it  devoutly.  They 
tied  him  on  a  chair,  at  his  own  request,  the  other  day,  in 
order  that  he  might  learn  his  lessons.  But  that  only  made 
him  worse  than  ever;  for  he  capered  round  the  room, 
chair  and  all,  until  Mr.  Penniloe  sent  to  ask  who  was 
churning  butter." 

"  What  a  blessing  that  boy  must  be  in  a  sick-house !  But 
what  has  made  him  take  up  our  case,  Jemmy  ?" 

"  The  demand  of  his  nature  for  violent  motion.  Every 
day  of  his  life,  except  Sunday,  he  scours  the  country  for 
miles  around.  On  foot,  mind — not  on  horseback,  which 


134  PERLYCROSS 

one  could  understand.  Moreover,  he  is  hot  in  my  favour 
because  he  comes  from  somewhere  near  Wincaunton,  and 
is  a  red-hot  'Zon  ov'  Zummerzet,'  and  contemptuous  of 
Devon.  But  it  is  not  for  me  to  inquire  into  motives.  I 
shall  want  every  single  friend  I  can  scrape  together  if 
what  I  heard  this  morning  is  anything  like  true.  You 
asked  me  last  night  what  Lady  Waldron  thought." 

"To  be  sure  I  did.  It  seemed  most  important.  But 
now,"  continued  Christie,  as  she  watched  her  brother's 
face,  "there  are  reasons  why  I  should  scarcely  attach  so 
much  weight  to  her  opinion." 

"The  chief  reason  being  that  you  see  it  is  against  me. 
Well,  truly  you  are  a  brave  reasoner,  my  dear.  But  I 
fear  that  it  is  so.  I  am  told  that  my  name  must  never 
again  be  heard  in  the  house  where  once  I  was  so 
welcome." 

"  Oh,  I  am  rather  glad  of  that.  That  will  go  a  long 
way  in  our  favour.  I  cannot  tell  how  many  times  I  have 
heard,  not  from  one,  but  from  all  who  have  met  her,  that 
she  is  a  most  unpleasant,  haughty  person,  even  for  a 
foreigner.  It  must  lie  very  heavy  on  the  poor  woman's 
conscience  that  everybody  says  she  helped,  by  her  nasty 
nature,  to  shorten  her  poor  husband's  days.  Possibly 
now — well,  that  throws  a  new  light.  What  has  happened 
may  very  well  have  been  done  at  the  order  of  some  of  his 
relatives,  who,  knowing  her  character,  suspect  foul  play. 
And  of  course  she  would  like  to  hear  no  more  about  it. 
You  know  all  those  foreigners,  how  pat  they  are  with 
poison." 

"  What  a  grand  thing  it  is  to  have  a  sister  !"  Fox  ex- 
claimed, looking  with  astonishment  at  Christie,  who  was 
quite  excited  with  her  new  idea.  "  Better  almost  to  have 
a  sister  than — than — I  mean  than  any  one  else.  I  almost 
feared  to  tell  you  my  last  piece  of  news,  because  I  thought 
that  it  must  upset  you  so.  And  behold,  it  has  greatly  en- 
couraged you !  But  remember,  on  no  account  must  you 
drop  a  hint,  even  to  our  best  friends,  of  your  last  brilliant 
idea.  What  frightful  things  flow  into  the  sweetest  little 
head!" 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  at  all  why  I  should  try  to  conceal  it. 
I  think  it  is  a  case  for  very  grave  suspicions.  And  if  she 


FRIENDS    AND    FOES  135 

spreads  shameful  reports  about  you,  I'll  soon  let  her  know 
that  two  can  play  at  that." 

"  Nonsense,  my  dear  child.  There  is  evidence  against 
me. "  None,  not  even  a  shadow  of  suspicion  against  her. 
She  loved  Sir  Thomas  devotedly,  and  I  always  thought 
that  jealousy  was  the  cause  of  her  coldness  to  his  English 
friends.  But  to  come  to  common -sense  again — what  I 
heard  to-day  settles  my  doubts  as  to  what  I  should  do. 
Penniloe  thought  that  I  should  call  at  Walderscourt ; 
though  he  saw  what  a  difficult  thing  it  was  to  do,  and 
rather  referred  it  to  my  own  decision.  I  shrank  from  it 
more  than  I  can  describe.  In  fact,  I  could  not  bring  my- 
self to  go  ;  not  for  my  own  sake,  but  for  theirs.  But  this 
behaviour  on  her  part  puts  a  new  aspect  upon  it.  I  feel 
myself  bound,  as  an  innocent  man,  to  face  her,  however 
unpleasant  it  may  be.  It  will  only  be  the  worse  for  put- 
ting off.  I  shall  go  this  afternoon." 

"  I  love  to  bring  anything  to  a  point.  You  are  quite 
right,"  replied  Christie,  with  her  bright  colour  rising  at 
the  prospect  of  a  brush ;  "  Jemmy  dear,  let  me  come  with 
you." 

"  Not  quite,  you  gallant  Chris !  No  such  luck  for  me. 
Not  that  I  want  you  to  back  me  up.  But  still  it  would 
have  been  a  comfort.  But  you  "know  it  is  out  of  the 
question  for  a  stranger  to  call  at  such  a  time." 

"  Well,  I  fear  it  is.  Though  I  shouldn't  mind  that. 
But  it  would  look  very  odd  for  you.  Never  mind  ;  I  won't 
be  far  away.  You  can  leave  me  outside,  and  I  will  wait 
for  you  somewhere  in  the  shrubbery,  if  there  is  one.  Not 
that  I  would  dream  of  keeping  out  of  sight.  Only  that 
they  might  be  afraid  to  £ee  me." 

"  They  might  reasonably  fear  it,  if  you  looked  as  you  do 
now.  Ferocity  does  not  improve  the  quality  of  your  smile, 
dear.  What  will  mother  say  when  you  go  home  ?  And 
somebody  else,  perhaps?  Now,  you  need  not  blush.  I 
have  a  very  high  opinion  of  him." 

"  Jemmy,  I  won't  have  it.  Not  another  word  !  Get  it 
out  of  your  silly  mind  forever.  Men  never  understand 
such  things.  There's  no  romance  in  me,  as  goodness 
knows.  But  you'll  never  catch  me  marrying  a  man  with 
none  of  it  in  him." 


136  PEKLYCKOSS 

"  You  are  too  young  to  think  of  such  things  yet,  though 
sometimes  even  younger  girls  —  but  come  along;  let  us 
have  a  breath  of  fresh  air,  after  all  this  melancholy  talk. 
That  foot-path  will  take  us  up  to  Hagdon  in  ten  minutes. 
You  are  eager  to  try  our  Old  Barn  style  of  victualling,  and 
it  suits  the  system  better  than  your  long  late  dinners. 
We  dine  at  two  o'clock.  Come  and  get  an  appetite." 

A  short  sharp  climb,  and  with  their  lungs  expanded 
they  stood  upon  the  breezy  hill,  and  looked  back  at  the 
valley.  Before  them  rolled  the  sweep  of  upland,  black  in 
some  places  with  bights  of  fired  furze ;  but  strewn  with 
long  alleys  of  tender  green,  where  the  flames  had  not  fed 
or  the  rains  had  wept  them  off.  The  soft  western  air, 
though  the  winter  had  held  speech  with  it,  kept  enough 
of  good-will  yet  to  be  a  pleasant  change  for  those  who 
found  their  fellow-creatures  easterly.  And  more  than  that, 
the  solemn  distance  and  expanse  of  trackless  gray,  hover- 
ing with  slow  wings  of  sleepy  vapour  touched  with  sun- 
shine, if  there  was  no  comfort  in  them,  yet  spread  some 
enlargement.  These  things  breathed  a  softer  breath,  as 
nature  must  (though  it  be  unfelt)  on  young  imaginations 
fluttering,  like  a  wisp  of  brambled  wool  in  the  bridle-paths 
and  stray  sheep-walks  of  human  trouble. 


CHAPTER    XVI 
LITTLE   BILLY 

WHEN  he  has  refreshed  his  memory  with  the  map  of 
England,  let  any  man  point  out  upon  it  if  he  can  deliber- 
ately any  two  parishes  he  knows  well,  which  he  can  also 
certify  to  be  exactly  like  each  other  in  the  character  of 
their  inhabitants.  Do  they  ever  take  alike  a  startling 
piece  of  news  about  their  most  important  people  ?  Do  they 
weigh  in  the  same  balance  the  discourses  of  the  parson, 
the  merits  of  those  in  authority,  or  the  endeavours  of  the 
rich  to  help  them  ?  If  a  stranger  rides  along  the  street  he 
is  pretty  sure  to  be  stared  at;  but  not  with  quite  the 
same  expression  as  in  the  last  village  he  came  through. 
Each  place  has  its  own  style  and  tone,  vein  of  sentiment, 
and  lines  of  attitude,  deepened,  perhaps,  by  the  lore  and 
store  of  many  generations. 

For  instance,  Perlycombe,  Perlycross,  and  Perliton  are 
but  as  three  pearls  on  one  string,  all  in  a  line  and  contig- 
uous. The  string  is  the  stream,  which,  arising  at  the 
eastern  extremity  of  Perlycombe  parish,  passes  through 
the  village,  then  westward  through  Perlycross,  and  west- 
ward still  through  the  much  larger  village  of  Perliton.  At 
Perlycombe  it  is  a  noisy  little  brook,  at  Perlycross  a  genial 
trout-stream — anon  of  glassy  wanderings,  anon  of  flickered 
hurry  ;  while  Perliton,  by  the  time  it  gets  there,  entitles  it 
"  the  River  Perle,"  and  keeps  two  boats  upon  it,  which  are 
not  always  more  aground  than  landsmen  should  desire. 

Now  any  one  would  fancy  that  these  three  adjoining 
parishes  would,  in  all  their  ways  and  manners,  be  as  like 
each  other  as  three  peas  vertebrated  in  one  pod.  But  the 
fancy  would  prove  that  he  was  only  fit  for  fiction,  not  for 
the  clearer  heights  of  history  such  as  this.  For  these  three 
parishes  are  quite  as  distinct,  one  from  another,  as  all  three 


138  PEKLYCROSS 

taken  together  admit  that  they  are,  and  deserve  to  be,  from 
the  rest  of  England. 

All  three  are  simple,  all  old-fashioned,  highly  respecta- 
ble, and  wonderfully  quiet  —  except  when  lashed  up  by 
some  outrage — slightly  contemptuous  of  one  another,  and 
decidedly  so  of  the  world  outside  the  valley.  From  it 
they  differ  widely,  and  from  one  another  visibly,  in  their 
facial  expression  and  figure  and  walk;  perceptibly  also 
in  tone  of  feeling,  habits  of  thought  (when  they  think  at 
all),  voices,  pet  words,  and  declivities  of  slouch.  So  that, 
in  these  liberal  times  of  free  disintegration,  each  of  them 
has  nature's  right  to  be  a  separate  nation.  And  in  proof 
of  this  they  beat  their  bounds,  and  often  break  each  oth- 
er's heads,  upon  St.  Clement's  Day. 

"  What  an  extraordinary  sound  I  hear !"  said  Christie 
to  her  brother,  as  they  turned  to  quit  the  hill.  "  Just  lis- 
ten a  moment.  I  can't  make  it  out.  It  sounds  like  a 
frightful  lot  of  people  in  the  distance." 

"  Well,  I  declare,  I  had  forgotten  all  about  it !  How 
very  stupid  I  am  getting  now !"  cried  Jemmy.  "  Why, 
this  is  St.  Clement's  Day,  and  no  mistake  !" 

"  Who  is  he  ?  I  never  heard  of  him.  And  what  right 
has  he  got  to  make  such  a  dreadful  noise  ?  He  couldn't 
do  it  all  by  himself,  Jemmy,  even  if  he  was  on  a  gridiron." 

"  But  he  has  got  half  of  Perly cross  to  help  him.  Come 
here,  Chris.  Here  is  a  nice  dry  hollow,  away  from  the 
damp  and  the  mist ;  and  the  noise  below  follows  the  curve 
of  it."  Fox  led  his  sister  into  a  little  scarp  of  flint,  with 
brows  of  gray  heather  and  russet  fern  quivering  to  the 
swell  of  funnelled  uproar.  "  Don't  be  afraid,"  he  said,  *'it 
is  only  our  own  parish.  There  ought  to  be  three  of  them  ; 
but  this  is  only  ours." 

"Well,  if  your  parish  can  make  all  that  noise,  what 
would  all  three  of  them  do  together  ?  Why,  ten  packs  of 
hounds  couldn't  equal  it !" 

"  You  have  hit  the  very  point ;  you  have  a  knack  of  do- 
ing that,"  answered  Jemmy,  as  he  landed  her  upon  a  gray 
ledge.  "  We  don't  let  the  other  two  in  any  more.  The 
business  had  always  been  triennial.  But  the  fighting  grew 
more  and  more  serious,  till  the  stock  of  sticking-plaster 
could  not  stand  it.  Then  a  man  of  peaceful  genius  sug- 


LITTLE    BILLY  139 

gested  that  each  parish  should  keep  its  own  St.  Clement's 
Day,  at  intervals  of  three  years  as  before  ;  but  in  succession, 
instead  of  all  three  at  once,  so  that  no  two  could  meet  upon 
the  frontier  in  force.  A  sad  falling  off  in  the  spirit  of  the 
thing,  and  threatening  to  be  better  for  the  lawyers  than 
for  us.  Perlycombe  had  their  time  last  year,  and  now 
Perlycross  has  to  redress  it.  Our  eastern  boundary  is 
down  in  that  hollow ;  and  Perlycombe  stole  forty  feet 
from  us  last  year.  We  are  naturally  making  a  little  stir 
about  it." 

"If  that  is  a  little  stir,  what  would  be  a  big  one ?  But 
I  want  to  see  them,  and  the  fogginess  of  the  trees  in  that 
direction  stops  me.  I  should  say  there  must  be  at  least 
five  hundred  people  there.  I  can't  stop  up  here  like  a 
dummy." 

"  Very  well ;  if  you  love  a  row  so  much.  But  there  are 
no  five  hundred  there,  because  it  is  more  than  thirty  miles 
round  this  parish,  and  the  beaters  start  in  two  companies 
from  Perle  wear,  one  lot  to  the  north  and  the  other  <o  the 
south,  and  they  go  round  till  they  meet  each  other,  some- 
where at  the  back  of  Beacon  Hill.  One  church-warden  with 
each  party,  and  the  overseers  divided,  and,  the  constables, 
and  so  on.  The  parson  should  be  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fray;  but  I  strictly  forbade  Mr.  Penniloe,  and  told  him  to 
send  Jakes  as  his  deputy.  Still,  I  should  not  be  sur- 
prised if  he  turns  up.  He  is  hot  upon  the  rights  of  his 
parish.  Come  round  this  way ;  there  is  no  fear  of  missing 
them  any  more  than  a  pack  of  hounds  in  full  cry." 

Christie  was  quite  up  for  it.  She  loved  a  bit  of  skir- 
mish, and  thought  it  might  fetch  her  brother's  spirits  up 
again.  So  they  turned  the  steep  declivity,  and  after  many 
scratches  crept  along  a  tangled  path  leading  down  to  a 
wooded  gully. 

Here  they  found  themselves  rather  short  of  breath,  but 
in  a  position  to  command  fair  view  of  the  crowd,  full  of 
action  in  the  dingle  and  the  bramble-land.  How  it  could 
matter  to  any  sane  humanity  whether  the  parish-bound 
ran  even  half  a  league  on  this  side  or  on  that  of  such 
a  desert  wild,  only  those  who  dwell  on  human  nature  can 
explain. 

However,  so  it  was ;  and  even  Mr.  Penniloe  had  flouted 


140  PEKLYCEOSS 

the  doctors,  and  was  here,  clad  in  full  academicals  ac- 
cording to  the  ancient  rule,  flourishing  his  black-varnished 
stick,  and  full  of  unfeigned  wrath  at  some  gross  crime. 

"Thou  shalt  not  move  thy  neighbour's  landmark,"  he 
was  shouting,  instead  of  swallowing  pills ;  and  as  many  of 
his  flock  as  heard  his  text  smote  right  and  left  in  accord- 
ance with  it. 

"What  on  earth  is  it  all  about?"  asked  Christie,  peeping 
through  a  holly-bush  and  flushing  with  excitement. 

"All  about  that  stone  down  in  the  hollow,  where  the 
water  spurts  so.  Don't  be  afraid.  They  can't  see  us." 
The  girl  looked  again,  and  wondered. 

Some  fifty  yards  before  them  was  a  sparkling  little 
watercourse,  elbowing  its  way  in  hurried  zigzag  down 
the  steep ;  but  where  it  landed  in  the  fern-bed  with  a  toss 
of  tresses  some  ungodly  power  of  men  had  heaved  across 
its  silver  foot  a  hugeous  bowlder  of  the  hill,  rugged, 
bulky,  beetle-browed — the  "  shameless  stone  "  of  Homer. 
And  with  such  effect  that  the  rushing  water,  like  a  scared 
horse,  leaped  aside,  and  swerving  far  at  the  wrongful  im- 
pulse, cut  a  felomous  cantel  out  of  the  sacred  parish  of 
Perlycross ! 

Even  this  was  not  enough.  To  add  insult  to  injury, 
some  heartless  wag  had  chiselled  on  the  lichened  slab  of 
bowlder  a  human  profile  in  broad  grin,  out  of  whose 
wicked  mouth  came  a  scroll,  inscribed  in  deep  letters, 
"  P.  combe  Parish." 

The  Perly crucians  stood  before  this  incredible  sight 
dumfounded.  Thus  far  they  had  footed  it  in  a  light  and 
merry  mood,  laughing,  chaffing,  blowing  horns,  and  rattling 
bladders,  thumping  trees  and  gates  and  cow-sheds,  bump- 
ing school-boys  against  big  posts,  and  daubing  every  cor- 
ner of  contention  from  kettles  of  tar  or  sheep-wash  with 
a  big  P.  +. 

But  now  as  this  outrage  burst  upon  them,  through  a  tall 
sheaf  of  yellow  flags,  their  indignation  knew  no  bounds, 
parochial  or  human.  As  soon  as  they  could  believe  their 
eyes,  they  lifted  their  hands  and  closed  their  lips ;  while 
the  boys,  who  were  present  in  great  force — for  Jakes 
could  not  help  the  holiday — put  their  fingers  in  their 
mouths  and  winked  at  one  another.  ~  Five  or  six  otter- 


LITTLE    BILLY  141 

hounds  from  the  kennels  of  a  sporting  yeoman  had  joined 
the  procession  with  much  good-will ;  but  now  they  recog- 
nized the  check,  and  sat  upon  their  haunches,  and  set  up  a 
yell  with  one  accord,  in  the  dismay  of  human  silence. 

Not  an  oath  was  uttered,  nor  a  ribald  laugh;  but  presently 
all  eyes  were  turned  upon  the  pale  Mr.  Penniloe,  who  stood 
at  the  side  of  Mr.  Farrant,  the  junior  church-warden,  who 
had  brought  him  in  his  four-wheeled  chaise  as  far  as  wheels 
might  venture.  Few  were  more  pained  by  this  crime  than 
the  parson ;  he  nodded  under  his  college  cap,  and  said, 

"  My  friends,  abate  this  nuisance." 

But  this  was  easier  said  than  done,  as  they  very  soon 
discovered.  Some  called  for  crow-bars,  and  some  for  gun- 
powder, and  some  for  a  team  of  horses ;  but  nothing  of 
the  sort  was  near  at  hand.  Then  Sergeant  Jakes,  as  an  old 
campaigner,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  borrowing  a  hatchet 
(of  which  there  were  plenty  among  them),  cut  down  a 
sapling  oak,  hard  and  tough  and  gnarled  from  want  of 
nourishment ;  therewith  at  the  obnoxious  rock  they  rushed, 
butting,  ramming,  tugging,  levering,  with  the  big  pole 
below  and  a  lot  of  smaller  staves  above,  and  men  of  every 
size  and  shape  trampling  and  kicking  out  and  exhorting 
one  another.  But  the  bowlder  had  been  fanged  into  its 
socket  so  exactly,  probably  more  by  luck  than  skill,  that 
there  it  stuck,  like  a  gigantic  molar,  and  Perlycross  la- 
boured in  vain  at  it. 

"  What  muffs !  As  if  they  could  do  it  like  that !  Penniloe 
ought  to  know  better ;  why,  the  pressure  is  all  the  wrong 
way.  But  of  course  he  is  an  Oxford  man.  Chris,  you 
stay  here  till  I  come  back.  Cambridge  v.  Oxford,  any  day, 
when  it  comes  to  a  question  of  engineering." 

Speaking  too  lightly,  he  leaped  in  like  manner  into  the 
yellow-ribbed  breast  of  the  steep,  while  Christie  communed 
with  herself  like  this: 

"  Oh,  what  a  pity  he  left  St.  John's !  He  must  have 
been  senior-wrangler,  if  he  had  stayed  on,  instead  of  those 
horrible  hospitals.  And  people  would  have  thought 
so  much  more  of  him.  But  perhaps  he  would  not  have 
looked  so  bright;  and  he  does  more  good  in  this  line. 
Though  nobody  seems  to  thank  him  much.  It  would  be 
ever  so  much  better  for  him,  and  he  would  be  valued 


142  PEBLTCKOSS 

more  if  he  did  ever  so  much  less  good.  But  I  like  the 
look  of  Mr.  Pcnniloe." 

The  man  who  should  have  been  senior  wrangler — as 
every  man  ever  yet  sent  to  Cambridge  should  have  been, 
if  justice  had  been  done  him  —  went  in  a  style  of  the 
purest  mathematics  along  the  conic  section  of  the  very 
noble  Hagdon.  The  people  in  the  gully  shouted  to  him, 
for  a  single  slip  would  have  brought  him  down  upon 
their  hats ;  but  he  kept  his  breath  for  the  benefit  of  his 
legs ;  and  his  nerves  were  as  sound  as  an  oyster's  before 
its  pearly  tears  begin.  Christie  watched  him  without  fear ; 
she  had  known  the  construction  of  his  legs  from  the  days 
of  balusters  and  rocking-horses. 

"  Give  me  up  a  good  pole — not  too  heavy — you  see  how 
I  have  got  to  throw  my  weight ;  but  a  bit  of  good  stuff 
with  an  elbow  to  it." 

Thus  spake  Jemmy,  and  the  others  did  their  best.  He 
stuck  his  heel  and  foot -side  into  a  soft  place  he  had 
found,  and  let  the  ledge  of  harder  stuff  overlap  his  boot- 
vamps,  then  he  took  the  springy  spar  of  ash  which  some 
one  had  handed  up  to  him,  for  he  stood  about  twelve  feet 
above  them,  and  getting  good  purchase  against  a  scrag  of 
flint,  brought  the  convexity  of  his  pole  to  bear  on  the  top- 
most jag  of  bowlder. 

"  Slew  away  as  high  as  you  can  reach,"  he  cried,  "  but 
don't  touch  it  anywhere  near  the  bottom."  As  they  all 
put  their  weights  to  it  the  rock  began  to  sway,  and  with 
a  heavy  groan  lurched  sideways. 

"  Stand  clear !"  cried  Jemmy,  as  the  whole  bulk  swung, 
with  the  pillar  of  water  helping  it,  and  then  settled  grandly 
back  into  the  other  niche,  with  the  volume  of  the  fall  leap- 
ing generously  into  the  parish  of  Perlycombe. 

"Hurrah  !"  shouted  everybody  young  enough  to  shout; 
while  the  elder  men  leaned  upon  their  staves  and  thanked 
the  Lord.  Not  less  than  forty  feet  was  recovered,  and 
another  forty  added  from  the  substance  of  big  rogues. 
"  'Tis  the  finest  thing  done  ever  since  I  were  a  boy,"  said 
the  oldest  man  present,  as  he  wiped  his  dripping  face. 
"  Measter  Vox,  come  down,  and  shake  hands  round.  Us 
will  never  believe  any  harm  of  thee  no  more." 

This  reasoning  was  rather  of  the  heart  than  head ;  but 


LITTLE    BILLY  143 

it  held  good  all  round,  as  it  generally  does.  And  now  as 
the  sound  of  the  water  went  away  into  its  proper  course 
with  the  joy  of  the  just  pursuing  it,  Miss  Fox,  who  had 
watched  all  proceedings  from  the  ridge,  could  hear  how 
the  current  of  public  opinion  was  diverted  and  rushing 
in  her  brother's  favour.  So  she  pinned  up  a  torn  skirt 
and  smoothed  out  another,  and  putting  back  her  bright 
hair,  tripped  down  the  wooded  slope,  and  stood  with  a 
charming  blush  before  them.  The  labourers  touched  their 
hats,  and  the  farmers  lifted  theirs,  and  every  one  tried  to 
look  his  best;  for  Perly cross  being  a  poetical  parish  is 
always  very  wide  awake  to  beauty. 

"  My  sister !"  explained  Dr.  Fox,  with  just  pride.  "  My 
sister,  Mr.  Penniloe  !  My  sister,  Mr.  Farrant !  Sergeant 
Jakes,  my  sister  !  Miss  Christie  Fox  will  be  glad  to  know 
you  all." 

"  And  I  am  sure  that  everybody  will  be  glad  to  know 
Miss  Fox,"  said  the  parson,  coming  forward  with  his  soft 
sweet  smile.  "At  any  time  she  would  be  welcome,  but 
now  she  is  come  at  the  time  of  all  times.  Behold  what 
your  brother  has  done,  Miss  Fox !  That  stream  is  the 
parish  boundary." 

"  He  maketh  the  rivers  to  run  in  dry  places,"  cried 
Channing,  the  clerk,  who  had  been  pulling  at  his  keg, 
"  and  lo,  he  hath  taken  away  the  reproach  of  his  people, 
Israel !" 

"  Mr.  Channing !  Fie,  Mr.  Channing  !"  began  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  upper  desk,  and  then  suddenly  checked 
himself,  lest  he  should  put  the  old  man  to  shame  before 
the  children  of  the  parish. 

"  By-the-bye,"  said  Mr.  Farrant,  coming  in  to  fill  the 
pause,  "  Dr.  Fox  is  the  likeliest  person  to  tell  us  what 
this  curious  implement  is.  It  looks  like  a  surgical  in- 
strument of  some  sort.  We  found  it,  doctor,  in  this  same 
watercourse,  about  a  furlong  farther  down,  where  the 
Blackmarsh  lane  goes  through  it.  We  were  putting  our 
parish-mark  on  the  old  tree  that  overhangs  a  deep  hole, 
when  this  young  gent,  who  is  uncommon  spry  —  I  wish 
you  luck  of  him,  I'm  sure,  Mr.  Penniloe — there  he  spies 
it,  and  in  he  goes  like  an  otter,  and  out  with  it  before  he 
could  get  wet,  almost." 


144  PEELYCKOSS 

"  Not  Kkely  I  was  going  to  leave  it  there,"  young  Peck- 
over  interrupted  ;  "  I  thought  it  was  a  clot  of  eels,  or  a  pair 
of  gloves,  or  something.  Though,  of  course,  a  glove  would 
float,  when  you  come  to  think  of  it.  Perhaps  the  young 
lady  knows — she  looks  so  clever." 

"  Hopper,  no  cheek  !"  Dr.  Fox  spoke  sharply,  for  the 
youth  was  staring  at  his  sister.  "  Mr.  Farrant,  I  can't  tell 
you  what  it  is,  for  I  never  saw  a  surgical  instrument  like 
it.  I  should  say  it  was  more  like  a  blacksmith's,  or  per- 
haps a  turner's  tool ;  though  not  at  all  a  common  one 
in  either  business.  Is  Crang  here,  or  one  of  his  appren- 
tices ?" 

"  No,  sir.  Joe  is  at  home  to-day — got  a  heavy  job," 
answered  some  one  in  the  crowd ;  "  and  the  two  prentices 
be  gone  with  t'other  lot  of  us." 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,"  volunteered  the  Hopper, 
who  was  fuming  at  the  slowness  of  parochial  demarca- 
tion, for  he  would  have  been  at  the  back  of  Beacon  Hill 
by  this  time ;  "  I'll  go  straight  with  it  to  Susscot,  and  be 
back  again  before  these  old  codgers  have  done  a  brace  of 
meadows.  It  is  frightful  cold  work  to  stand  about  like 
this.  I  found  it,  and  I'll  find  out  what  it  is,  too." 

The  tool  was  handed  to  him,  and  he  set  off,  like  a 
chamois,  in  a  straight  line  westward  ;  while  two  or  three 
farmers,  who  had  suffered  already  from  his  steeple-chase 
tracks,  would  have  sent  a  brief  word  after  him  but  for  the 
parson's  presence.  Fox,  who  was  amused  with  this  speci- 
men of  his  county,  ran  part  way  up  the  hill  to  watch  his 
course,  and  then  beckoned  to  his  sister  to  return  to  the 
Old  Barn  by  the  foot-path  along  the  foot  of  Hagdon. 

They  had  scarcely  finished  dinner,  which  they  had  to 
take  in  haste  by  reason  of  the  shortness  of  the  days  and 
their  intended  visit  to  Walderscourt,  when  Joe  Crang,  the 
blacksmith,  appeared  in  the  yard,  pulling  his  hat  off,  and 
putting  it  on  again,  and  wiping  his  face  with  a  tongs-swab. 

Fox  saw  that  the  man  was  in  a  state  of  much  excite- 
ment, and  made  him  come  in,  while  Miss  Christie  went  up- 
stairs to  prepare  for  their  drive  to  Walderscourt. 

"  What's  the  matter,  Crang  ?  Take  a  chair  there.  You 
needn't  be  nervous,"  said  the  doctor,  kindly  ;  "  I  have  no 
grudge  against  you  for  saying  what  you  believe.  It  has 


LITTLE   BILLY  145 

done  me  a  world  of  harm,  no  doubt ;  but  it's  no  fault  of 
yours.  It's  only  my  bad  luck  that  some  fellow  very  like 
me  and  also  a  Jemmy  should  have  been  in  that  black 
job  that  night.  But  I  wish  you  had  just  shown  a  little 
more  pluck,  as  I  told  you  the  other  day.  If  you  had  just 
gone  round  the  horse  and  looked,  or  even  sung  out,  *  Is 
that  you,  doctor  ?'  why,  you  might  have  saved  me  from — 
from  knowing  so  much  about  my  friends.71 

"  Oh,  sir,  'twaz  an  awesome  night !  But  what  I  be  come 
for  to  say,  sir,  is  just  this :  I  absolve  'e,  sir — I  absolve  'e, 
Measter  Vox.  If  that  be  the  right  word — and  a'  cometh 
from  the  Baible,  I  absolve  'e,  Measter  Vox." 

"  Absolve  me  from  what,  Crang  ?  I  have  done  nothing. 
You  mean,  I  suppose,  that  you  acquit  me  ?" 

"  Well,  now,  you  would  never  believe — but  that's  the 
very  word  of  discoorse  that  have  been  sticking  in  my 
throat  all  the  way  from  the  ford.  You  never  done  it,  sir 
— not  you.  You  never  done  it,  sir !  You  may  put  me  on 
my  oath." 

"  But  you  have  been  very  much  upon  your  oath  ever 
since  it  happened,  that  I  was  the  man,  and  no  other  man, 
that  did  the  whole  of  it* Joseph  Crang.  And  the  ale  you 
have  had  on  the  strength  of  it." 

"  The  ale,  sir,  is  neither  here  nor  there  " — the  black- 
smith looked  hurt  by  this  imputation — "  it  cometh  to-day, 
and  it  goeth  to-morrow,  the  same  as  the  flowers  of  the 
field.  But  the  truth  is  the  thing  as  abideth,  Measter 
Jemmy.  Not  but  what  the  ale  might  come  upon  the 
other  view  of  it.  Likewise  —  likewise,  if  the  Lord  in 
heaven  ordereth  it,  the  same  as  the  quails  from  the  sky, 
sir." 

"The  miracle  would  be  if  it  failed  to  come  wherever 
you  are,  Joseph.  But  what  has  converted  you  from 
glasses  against  me  to  glasses  in  my  favour  ?" 

"  Nothing  more  than  this,  sir :  seemeth  to  a  loose 
mind  neither  here  nor  there ;  but  to  them  that  knoweth 
it,  beyond  when  human  mind  began,  perhaps  afore  the 
flood  waz,  there's  nought  that  speaks  like  Little  Billy." 

"  Why  this,"  exclaimed  Fox,  as  he  unrolled  the  last  new 
leathern  apron  of  the  firm  of  Crang  and  wife — "  this  is  the 
thing  they  found  to-day  in  beating  the  bounds  of  the 


146  PERLYCEOSS 

parish !  Nobody  could  make  out  what  it  was.  What  can 
it  have  to  do  with  me,  or  the  sad  affair  at  Perlycross  ?" 

"  Little  Billy,  sir,"  replied  the  blacksmith,  dandling  the 
tool  with  honest  love,  as  he  promptly  recovered  it  from 
Fox,  "  have  been  in  our  family  from  father  to  son  since 
time  runneth  not  to  the  contrary.  Half  her  can  do  is  un- 
beknown to  me,  not  having  the  brains  as  used  to  be.  Ah, 
we  was  clever  people  then,  afore  the  times  of  the  New 
Covenant.  It  runneth  in  our  race  that  there  was  a  Joe 
Crang  did  the  crafty  work  for  the  Tabernacle  as  was  set  up 
in  the  wilderness,  and  it  might  a'  been  him  as  made 
Little  Billy." 

"  Very  hard,  indeed,  to  prove.  Harder  still  to  disprove. 
But  giving  you  the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  Master  Crang, 
how  have  you  used  this  magic  tool  yourself  ?" 

"  That's  where  the  very  p'int  of  the  whole  thing  lies ; 
that's  what  shows  them  up  so  ungrateful,  sir.  Not  a  soul 
in  the  parish  to  remember  what  Little  Billy  hath  been  to 
them  !  Mind,  I  don't  say  as  I  understand  this  tool, 
though  I  does  a'most  anything  with  her.  But  for  them 
not  to  know !  For  them  to  send  to  ax  the  name  of  'un, 
when  there  bain't  one  in  ten  of  '^n  as  hathn't  roared  over 
'un,  when  her  was  screwed  to  a  big  back  tooth." 

"  The  ungrateful  villains !  It  is  really  too  bad.  So, 
after  all,  it  proves  to  be  what  Mr.  Farrant  thought  it  was — 
a  genuine  surgical  instrument.  But  go  on,  Crang;  will 
you  never  tell  me  how  this  amounts  to  any  proof,  either 
of  my  guilt  or  innocence  ?" 

"  Why,  according  of  this  here,  sir,  and  no  way  out  of 
it :  Little  Billy  were  took  off  my  shelf,  where  her  always 
bideth  from  father  to  son,  by  the  big  man  as  come  along 
of  the  lame  horse  and  the  cart  that  night.  When  I  was 
a  kneeling  down  I  zeed  'un  put  his  hand  to  it,  though  I 
dussn't  say  a  word  for  the  life  of  me.  And  he  slipped  'un 
into  his  pocket,  same  as  he  would  a  penny  dolly." 

"  Come  now,  that  does  seem  more  important,"  said  the 
doctor,  cogitating.  "But  what  could  the  fellow  have 
wanted  it  for  ?" 

"  Can't  tell  'e,  sir,"  replied  the  blacksmith.  "  For  some 
of  his  unchristian  work,  maybe.  Or  he  might  have  thought 
it  would  come  in  handy  if  aught  should  go  amiss  with 


LITTLE   BILLY  147 

the  poor  nag  again.  Many's  the  shoe  I've  punched  off 
with  Little  Billy." 

"  A  Billy  of  all  trades,  it  seems  to  be.  But  how  does 
the  recovery  of  this  tool  show  that  you  made  a  mistake 
about  me,  Crang  ?" 

"  By  reason  of  the  place  where  her  was  cast  away.  You 
can't  get  from  Old  Barn  to  Blackmarsh  lane  with  wheels, 
sir,  anyway,  can  you  ?  You  know  how  that  is,  Dr.  Jemmy." 

"  Certainly  I  do.  But  that  proves  nothing  to  my  mind 
at  all  conclusive." 

"  To  my  mind  it  do  prove  everything  collusive.  And 
here  be  the  sign  and  seal  of  it.  As  long  as  I  spoke  again' 
you,  Dr.  Yox,  I  was  forced  to  go  without  my  Little  Billy. 
Not  a  day's  work  hath  prospered  all  that  time,  and  two 
bad  shillings  from  chaps  as  rode  away.  But  now  I  be 
took  to  the  right  side  again,  here  comes  my  Little  Billy 
and  an  order  for  three  harries  !" 

"  But  it  was  the  Little  Billy  that  has  made  you  change 
sides.  It  came  before,  and  not  in  consequence  of  that." 

"  And  glad  I  be  to  see  'un,  sir,  and  glad  to  find  you 
clear  of  it.  Tell  'e  what  I'll  do,  Dr.  Jemmy.  You  draw 
a  table  up  as  big  as  Ten  Commandments,  and  three 
horseshoes  on  the  top  for  luck,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
and  King  William  the  Fourth,  and  we'll  have  it  on  church 
door  by  next  Sunday,  with  my  mark  on  it,  and  both 
prentices.  You  put  it  up,  sir,  like  Nebuchadnezzar ;  be- 
ginning, *  I,  Joseph  Crang,  do  hereby  confess,  confirm, 
and  convince  all  honest  folk  of  this  here  parish — " 

"  No,  no  ;  nothing  of  that,  Joe.  I  am  quite  satisfied. 
Let  people  come  round,  or  not ;  just  as  they  like.  I  am 
having  a  holiday,  and  I  find  it  very  pleasant." 

"  Meaning  to  say,  as  it  have  spoiled  your  trade  ?  Never 
would  I  forgive  a  man  as  did  the  like  to  me.  But  I  see 
you  be  going  for  a  trip  somewhere,  sir,  with  a  pretty  lady. 
Only  you  mind  one  thing :  Joe  Crang  will  shoe  your 
horses  as  long  as  you  bide  in  Perlycrass  for  the  whole- 
sale price  of  the  iron,  Dr.  Jemmy ;  time  and  labour  and 
nails  thrown  in,  free  gratis,  and  for  nothing." 


CHAPTER   XVII 
CAMELLIAS 

WHILE  at  the  Old  Barn,  and  Rectory  also,  matters  were 
thus  improving,  there  was  no  lifting  of  the  clouds  but 
even  deeper  gloom  at  Walderscourt.  The  house  that  had 
been  so  gay  and  happy,  warm  and  hospitable,  brisk  with 
pleasant  in-door  amusement ;  or  eager  to  sally  forth  upon 
some  lively  sport  whenever  the  weather  looked  tempting ; 
the  house  that  had  been  the  home  of  many  joyful  dogs — 
true  optimists,  and  therefore  the  best  friends  of  man — 
and  had  daily  looked  out  of  its  windows,  and  admired 
(with  noddings  of  pretty  heads,  and  glances  of  bright 
eyes)  the  manner  a  good  horse  has  of  saying,  "  by  your 
leave,  I  want  to  see  a  little  bit  of  the  world.  Two  days 
looking  at  my  own  breath  and  your  nasty  whitewash  !  It 
would  grieve  me  very  much  to  pitch  you  oif.  But  remem- 
ber you  have  seventy  years,  and  I  about  seventeen,  for 
seeing  God's  light  and  the  glories  of  the  earth." 

None  of  these  high-mettled  things  happened  now.  If 
a  horse  had  an  airing  it  was  with  a  cloth  on,  and  heels  of 
no  perception  sticking  under  him,  like  nippers ;  instead  of 
the  kind  and  intelligent  approach  of  a  foot  that  felt  every 
step,  and  went  with  it — though  thankful  for  being  above 
the  mud — or,  better  still,  that  stroking  of  his  goodness 
with  the  grain,  which  every  gentlemanly  horse  throws  up 
his  head  to  answer,  when  a  lady  of  right  feeling  floats 
upon  the  breeze  to  please  him. 

Neither  was  there  any  dog.  Volumes  of  description 
close  with  a  bang  the  moment  such  a  thing  is  said.  Any 
lawn,  where  dogs  have  played,  and  any  gravel -walk — 
whereon  they  have  sauntered,  with  keener  observation 
than  even  Shakespeare  can  have  felt,  or  rushed  with  head- 
long interest  into  the  life-history  of  some  visitor — lawn, 


CAMELLIAS  149 

and  walk,  and  even  flower-beds  (touchy  at  times  about 
sepulture  of  bones)  wear  a  desolate  aspect,  and  look  as  if 
they  are  longing  to  cry,  too  late,  "  Oh,  bark  again,  as 
thou  wast  wont  to  bark  !" 

The  premises  may  not  have  felt  it  thus ;  or,  if  they  did, 
were  too  mute  to  tell  it.  But  an  air  of  desolation  broods 
over  its  own  breath,  and  silence  is  a  ghost  that  grows 
bigger  at  each  stalk.  There  were  no  leaves  left,  to  make 
a  little  hush  by  dropping,  as  a  dead  man  does  from  the 
human  tree ;  for  the  nip  of  early  frost  had  sent  them  down 
on  the  night  of  their  master's  funeral  to  a  grave  more 
peaceful  and  secure  than  his.  Neither  had  men  worked 
over -hard  to  improve  the  state  of  things  around  them. 
"With  true  philosophy  they  had  accepted  the  sere  and  yel- 
low leaf,  because  nobody  came  to  make  them  sweep  it  up. 
The  less  a  man  labours,  the  longer  will  he  last,  according 
to  general  theory ;  and  these  men,  though  plentiful,  de- 
sired to  last  long.  So  that  a  visitor  of  thoughtful  vein 
might  form  a  fair  table  of  the  course  of  "  earth-currents," 
during  the  last  three  weeks,  from  the  state  of  the  big  lawn 
at  Walderscourt,  where  Sir  Thomas  used  to  lean  upon  his 
stick,  and  say,  "  That  man  is  working  almost  too  hard ;  he 
looks  as  if  he  ought  to  have  a  glass  of  beer." 

But  the  gentleman  now  coming  up  the  drive  was  not 
in  the  proper  frame  of  mind  for  groundling  observation. 
Not  that  he  failed  to  look  about  him,  as  if  to  expand  or 
improve  his  mind ;  but  the  only  result  upon  his  nervous 
system  was  to  make  it  work  harder  upon  his  own  affairs. 
He  was  visited  with  a  depressing  sense  of  something 
hanging  over  him — of  something  that  must  direct  and 
shape  the  whole  course  of  his  future  life ;  and  whether  it 
might  be  for  good  or  evil,  he  was  hurrying  to  go  through 
with  it. 

"  I  don't  care — I  don't  care,"  he  kept  saying  to  himself ; 
but  that  self  was  well  aware  that  he  did  care  very  much — 
as  much  as  for  all  the  rest  of  the  world  put  together. 
"  I've  a  great  mind  to  toss  up  about  it,"  he  said,  as  he  felt 
a  lucky  sixpence  in  his  pocket ;  but  his  sense  of  the  fit- 
ness of  things  prevailed,  so  he  put  on  a  fine  turn  of  speed 
and  rang  the  bell. 

The    old    house    looked   so   different,  and   everything 


1 50  PEELYCROSS 

around  so  changed,  that  our  friend  Fox  had  a  weak  im- 
pression, and  perhaps  a  strong  hope,  that  the  bell  would 
prove  to  be  out  of  its  duty  and  refuse  to  wag.  But  alas ! 
far  otherwise  ;  the  bell  replied  with  a  clang  that  made  him 
jump,  and  seek  reassurance  in  the  flavour  of  his  black  kid 
glove.  He  had  plenty  of  time  to  dwell  fully  upon  that, 
and  even  write  a  report  upon  the  subject,  ere  ever  door 
showed  any  loyalty  to  bell,  and  even  then  there  was  stiff- 
ness about  it ;  for  one  of  the  stiffest  of  mankind  stood 
there,  instead  of  the  genial  John  or  Bob — Mr.  Binstock 
himself,  a  tall  man  of  threescore,  major  of  the  cellar  and 
commander  of  the  household.  He,  in  a  new  suit  of  black 
and  bearing  a  gold  chain  on  his  portly  front,  looked  down 
upon  the  vainly  upstanding  Jemmy,  as  if  in  need  of  an 
introduction. 

But  Dr.  Fox  was  not  the  man  to  cave  in  thus.  The 
door  was  a  large  one,  with  broad  aperture,  and  this  al- 
lowed the  visitor  to  march  in  as  if  he  had  failed  to  see  the 
great  Binstock.  Taking  his  stand  upon  a  leopard's  skin 
in  the  centre  of  the  entrance  hall,  he  gazed  around  calmly, 
as  if  he  were  the  stranger  contemplated  by  the  serving- 
man. 

"  You  will  have  the  goodness  to  take  this  card  up.  No, 
thank  you,  my  man,  I  will  stay  where  I  am." 

The  butler's  face  deepened  from  the  tint  of  a  radish  to 
that  of  the  richest  beet-root ;  but  he  feared  to  reply,  and 
took  the  card  without  a  word.  "  My  turn  will  come  very 
soon,"  was  in  his  eyes. 

Acquainted  as  he  was  with  the  domestic  signs  and  sea- 
sons, Fox  had  not  a  shadow  of  a  doubt" about  his  fate,  so 
far  as  the  lady  of  the  house  could  pronounce  it.  But  for 
all  that,  he  saw  no  reason  to  submit  to  rudeness,  and  all 
his  tremors  vanished  now  at  this  man's  servile  arrogance. 
How  many  a  time  had  that  fat  palm  borne  the  impress  of 
a  five -shilling  piece,  slipped  into  it  by  the  sympathetic 
Jemmy !  And  now  to  think  that  this  humbug  did  not 
know  him,  and  looked  at  him  as  a  young  man  aiming  at 
the  maids  but  come  to  the  wrong  door !  If  anything  is 
wormwood  to  an  Englishman — that  a  low,  supercilious, 
ungrateful  lackey —  Well,  here  he  comes  again.  Now 
for  it ! 


CAMELLIAS  151 

Binstock  descended  the  old  oak  staircase  in  a  very  ma- 
jestic manner,  with  the  light  from  a  long,  quaiied  window 
playing  soft  hop-scotch  upon  his  large  countenance.  The 
young  doctor,  as  in  absent  mood,  felt  interest  in  the  his- 
tory, value,  and  probable  future  of  the  beings  on  the  pan- 
els—  stags,  otters,  foxes,  martens,  polecats,  white  hares, 
badgers,  and  other  noble  members  of  west -county  suf- 
frage ;  some  entire  and  too  fat  to  live,  some  represented 
by  a  very  little  bit. 

Binstock  descended,  in  deep  silence  still.  He  felt  that 
the  crown  had  passed  away.  No  other  five-shilling  piece 
would  ever  flutter — as  a  tip  on  the  sly  should  have  the 
wings  to  do— from  the  gentleman  of  vials  to  the  man  of 
bottles. 

The  salver  in  his  hand  was  three  times  as  large  as  the 
one  upon  which  he  had  received  the  card ;  but  the  little 
card  was  on  it,  very  truly  in  the  centre,  squaring  the  cir- 
cle of  a  coat  of  many  arms. 

The  butler  came  down  and  brought  his  heels  together, 
then  made  a  low  bow,  and,  without  a  word,  conveyed  to 
the  owner  of  that  piece  of  pasteboard  how  frankly  and  cord- 
ially it  lay  at  his  disposal.  Fox  had  been  expecting  at 
least  some  message,  some  shade,  however  cold  it  might 
be,  of  courtesy  and  acknowledgment.  But  this  was  a 
queer  sort  of  reception ;  and  Binstock  did  not  even  grin. 
The  turn  of  his  lips  suggested  only  that  others  might  do 
so — not  he,  at  such  a  trifle. 

Fox  should  have  taken  all  with  equal  silence.  The 
Foxes  were  quite  as  old  a  race  as  any  Waldrons ;  Foxden 
was  a  bigger  place  than  Walderscourt,  and  stouter  men 
than  Binstock  were  in  service  there.  But  the  young  man 
was  in  love,  and  he  forgot  those  spiteful  things. 

"  No  message,  Binstock  ?"  he  asked,  with  timid  glance, 
while  he  fumbled  very  clumsily  with  his  nails  (now  bitten 
short,  during  many  sad  hours  of  dark  brooding)  to  get  his 
poor  card  out  of  graven  heraldry ;  "  not  a  word  of  any  sort 
from — from  anybody  ?" 

"  Had  there  been  a  message,  sir,  I  should  have  delivered 
it." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Binstock.  To  be  sure — of  course 
you  would.  Very  well.  Good-afternoon.  There  is  noth- 


1 52  PERLYCEOSS 

ing  more  to  say.  I  will  put  this  in  my  pocket  for — for  a 
last  remembrance." 

He  put  the  rejected  card  in  his  waistcoat-pocket,  and 
glanced  round,  as  if  to  say  "  Good-bye  "  to  the  old  haunt 
of  many  a  pleasant  hour. 

Then  Binstock,  that  grave  and  majestic  butler,  surprised 
him  by  giving  a  most  unmajestic  wink.  Whether  he  was 
touched  with  reminiscence  of  his  youth — for  he  had  been 
a  faithful  man  in  love  as  well  as  wine — or  whether  sweet- 
er memory  of  crown-pieces  moved  him,  from  sympathy  or 
gratitude  or  both  combined,  beyond  any  question  Bin- 
stock  winked.  Fox  felt  very  thankful,  and  received  a 
lasting  lesson  that  he  had  not  given  utterance  to  the  small 
contempt  within  him. 

"  There  was  a  little  pipe,  sir,"  said  the  butler,  glancing 
round,  and  speaking  in  a  low  voice  rather  fast,  "  that  our 
poor  Sir  Thomas  gived  to  you,  from  the  Spanish,  now 
called  the  Provincial,  War.  John  Hutchings  made  the  ob- 
servation that  he  had  heard  you  pronounce  opinion  that  it 
was  very  valuable,  and  never  would  you  part  with  it,  high 
or  low.  And  John  says  that  to  his  certain  knowledge 
now  it  is  lying  in  our  Camellia-house." 

"  Oh,  never  mind  about  it  now.  It  is  kind  of  you  to 
think  of  it.  Perhaps  you  will  put  it  by  for  me." 

"  Moreover,  John  was  a-saying,  sir,"  continued  Mr.  Bin- 
stock,  with  a  still  more  solemn  wink,  "  that  you  ought  al- 
most to  have  a  look  at  our  poor  little  dog,  that  all  the 
parish  is  so  full  of,  including  our  Miss  Nicie,  sir.  Vets 
may  be  aft  very  well  in  their  way,  but  a  human  doctor 
more  immortal.  And  that  makes  the  young  lady  so  par- 
ticular, no  doubt,  to  keep  her  in  the  Camellia-house,  be- 
cause of  being  cool  and  warm,  sir." 

"  Oh,  to  be  sure  !  That  poor,  dear  little  Jess !  What  a 
fine  heart  you  have,  Binstock !  I  suppose  I  may  go  out 
that  way  ?" 

"  The  same  to  you,  sir,"  said  Binstock,  as  he  proved 
the  truth  of  the  proverb — "  a  fine  heart  is  a  vein  of  gold." 
"  The  shortest  way  out,  sir,  John  always  says,  when  her 
ladyship's  nerves  have  locked  her  up  ;  and  the  quietest 
way,  with  no  one  about,  unless  it  should  happen  to  be 
Miss  Nicie,  certainly  is  through  the  west  quarry  door." 


CAMELLIAS  153 

The  butler  closed  the  front  door  with  a  bang,  as  if  he 
had  thrust  the  intruder  forth ;  while  Jemmy,  with  his  heart 
in  his  mouth,  hurried  down  the  west  corridor  to  the  green- 
house. 

Colonel  Waldron,  while  in  Portugal  five -and -twenty 
years  ago,  had  been  greatly  impressed  with  the  glorious 
sight  of  noble  camellia-trees  in  full  bloom,  a  sight  perhaps 
unequalled  in  the  world  of  flowers.  He  had  vowed  that 
if  ever  he  returned  alive,  and  could  afford  the  outlay,  ca- 
mellias he  would  have  in  England  ;  not  so  magnificent,  of 
course,  but  worthy  to  remind  him  of  Parque  da  Pena.  He 
had  studied  the  likings  of  the  race,  and  built  a  house  on 
purpose  for  them  ;  and  here  they  were,  in  this  dark  month, 
beginning  to  offer  bright  suggestion  of  the  spring.  Fine 
trees  of  twenty  years'  sturdy  growth,  flourishing  in  the 
prime  flush  of  health,  with  the  dark  leaves  glancing  like 
bulls'-eyed  glass,  and  the  younger  ones  gleaming  like  gauf- 
fered satin  ;  and  these  but  a  cushion  and  a  contrast  for 
the  stately  luxuriance  of  blossom — some  in  the  perfect 
rosette  already  of  clean-cut,  snow-white  ivory  ;  some  just 
presenting  the  pure  deep  chalice  ;  others  in  the  green  bud, 
tipped  with  snow,  or  soft  maiden  blush,  or  lips  of  coral. 

For  the  trees  were  planted  in  a  border  of  good  sod,  cut 
from  healthy  pasture,  instead  of  being  crammed  and 
jammed  in  pots,  with  the  roots  like  a  ganglion  or  burr- 
knot  wen.  Hence,  the  fibres  spread  and  sucked  up 
strength,  and  poured  the  lush  juices  into  elastic  cells, 
ready  to  flow  into  grace  of  form  and  colour,  and  offer  fair 
delight  and  pride  to  the  eyes  and  heart  of  watchful  men. 

But  Fox  was  not  a  watchful  man  at  all  of  any  of  the 
charming  feats  of  vegetation  now.  Flowers  were  all  very 
well  in  their  way,  but  they  were  not  in  his  way  just  at 
present,  or — worse  again — some  of  them  were,  and  stopped 
him  from  clear  view  of  something  worth  all  the  flowers, 
all  the  fruit,  and  all  the  fortunes  of  the  wide,  wide  world. 

For  lo,  not  far  away,  between  a  pink  tree  and  a  white 
one,  sat  Miss  Inez  Waldron  in  a  square -backed  garden 
chair.  At  her  feet  was  a  cushioned  basket  with  an  invalid 
dog  asleep  in  it,  while  a  sound  dog  of  pug  race  was  nudg- 
ing in  between,  fain  to  push  it  out  of  sight  if  his  body 
had  been  big  enough.  Jealousy  lurked  in  every  wrinkle 
7* 


1 54  PERLYCBOSS 

of  his  face,  and  governed  every  quiver  of  his  half-cocked 
tail. 

The  girl  looked  very  pale  and  sad,  and  could  not  even 
raise  a  smile  at  all  the  sharp  manoeuvres  and  small-minded 
whines  of  Pixie.  Heartily  as  she  loved  the  dogs,  their 
sorrows,  views,  and  interests  now  were  not  the  first  she 
had  to  dwell  on.  With  the  colour  gone  from  her  cheeks, 
and  her  large  deep -gray  eyes  dulled  with  weeping,  her 
face  was  not  so  lovely  as  in  gayer  times,  but  even  yet 
more  lovable  and  tender. 

Following  Pixie's  rush,  without  much  expectation  in  her 
gaze — for  she  thought  it  was  her  mother  coming — her 
eyes  met  those  of  the  young  man  parted  by  such  a  dark 
cloud  from  her.  For  an  instant  her  pale  cheeks  flushed, 
and  then  the  colour  vanished  from  them,  and  she  trembled 
so  that  she  could  not  rise.  Her  head  fell  back  on  the 
rail  of  the  chair,  while  trees  and  flowers  and  lines  of  glass 
began  to  quiver  and  lose  their  shape  and  fade  away  from 
her  languid  eyes. 

"  You  are  faint — she  has  fainted !"  cried  Fox,  in  dismay, 
as  he  caught  up  the  handkerchief  she  had  dropped  and 
plunged  it  into  a  watering-pot,  then  wrung  and  laid  it 
gently  on  her  smooth  white  forehead.  Then  he  took 
both  her  hands  in  his  and  chafed  them,  kneeling  at  her 
side  in  a  state  of  agitation  unlikely  to  add  to  his  medical 
repute  ;  and  from  time  to  time  he  whispered  words  of 
more  than  sympathy  or  comfort — words  that  had  never 
passed  between  them  yet. 

For  a  while  she  knew  not  what  he  said,  until,  as  she 
slowly  revived,  one  word  attracted  her  vague  attention. 

"  Happy !"  she  said,  only  conscious  yet  of  speaking  to 
some  kind  person  ;  "  no,  I  must  never  think  of  such  a 
thing  again."  The  sadness  of  her  own  voice  told  upon 
her,  reacting  on  the  sad  heart  from  which  it  came.  She 
looked  as  if  for  somebody  to  comfort  her ;  perhaps  the 
dear  father  who  had  always  loved  to  do  it.  He  was  not 
to  be  found — oh,  piteous  grief !  If  he  could  come,  would 
he  ever  leave  her  thus  ? 

Then  the  whole  of  her  misery  broke  upon  her.  She 
knew  too  well  where  she  was  and  what.  Turn  away  the 
face  there  is  none  to  kiss,  and  toss  back  the  curls  there  is 


CAMELLIAS  155 

nobody  to  stroke.  From  a  woman  she  fell  back  into  a 
petted  child,  spoiled  by  sweet  love,  and  now  despoiled  by 
bitter  fate.  She  could  look  at  nothing  more.  Why  did 
consciousness  come  back  ?  The  only  thing  for  her  was  to 
sob  and  weep — tears  that  rolled  more  big  and  heavy,  be- 
cause they  must  ever  roll  in  vain. 

Fox  had  never  been  in  such  a  state  of  mind  before. 
Hundreds  of  times  he  had  been  driven  to  the  end  of  his 
wits,  and  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  to  know  what  to  do  with 
wailing  women,  stricken  down  at  last  by  inexorable 
death  from  the  hope  that  laughs  at  doctors.  But  the 
difference  was  this  :  he  was  the  doctor  then,  and  now  he 
was  the  lover — the  lover  without  acknowledged  right  to 
love  ;  but  the  shadow  of  death,  and  worse  than  that, 
between  him  and  the  right  to  love. 

While  he  was  feebly  holding  on,  knowing  that  he  could 
not  leave  her  thus — for  there  was  a  large  tank  near  her — 
yet  feeling  that  no  man,  save  husband  or  father,  should 
be  admitted  to  this  deep  distress,  he  heard  the  light  steps 
of  a  woman  in  the  corridor,  and  he  muttered,  "  Thank 
God !  there  is  some  kind  person  coming," 

But  his  joy  was  premature.  The  branches  of  a  fine 
camellia -tree  were  swept  aside  like  cobwebs,  and  there 
stood  Lady  Waldron,  drawing  the  heavy  black  folds  around 
her,  and  bearing  him  down  with  her  cold,  dark  eyes.  Her 
gaze  of  contemptuous  loathing  passed  from  him,  as  if  he 
were  not  worth  it,  to  the  helpless  embodiment  of  anguish 
in  the  chair,  and  even  then  there  was  no  pity. 

Inez  turned  and  faced  her,  and  the  meeting  of  their 
eyes  was  not  of  the  gentle  sweetness  due  between  a  mother 
and  her  daughter.  Without  another  glance  at  Fox,  Lady 
Waldron  swept  by  as  if  he  were  not  present,  and,  stand- 
ing before  her  daughter,  spoke  a  few  Spanish  words  very 
slowly,  pronouncing  every  syllable ;  then,  with  a  smile  far 
worse  to  see  than  any  frown,  she  turned  away,  and  her 
stately  figure  disappeared  in  the  shadows  of  the  corridor. 

The  maiden  watched  her  without  a  word,  and  the  sense 
of  wrong  renewed  her  strength.  Her  eyes  met  the  light 
as  if  they  had  never  known  a  tear,  and  she  threw  up  her 
head  and  swept  (her  long  hair  back  ;  for  her  proud  spirit 
rose  through  the  storm  of  her  trouble  as  a  young  palm 


156  PERLYCEOSS 

stands  forth  from  the  cloud  it  has  defied.  She  cast  a 
glance  at  Fox,  and  to  her  great  relief  saw  nothing  in  his 
face  but  anxiety  about  herself.  But  she  must  have  his 
ignorance  confirmed. 

"  What  trouble  I  have  given  you !"  she  said,  with  her 
usual  clear  soft  tones  and  gentle  look.  "  I  am  quite 
ashamed  of  myself  for  having  so  very  little  strength  of 
mind.  I  cannot  thank  you  as  I  ought  to  do.  My  mother 
would  have  done  it,  I — I  suppose,  at  least,  if  she  had  been 
at  all  like  herself.  But  she  has  not  been  well,  not  at  all 
as  she  used  to  be,  ever  since — I  need  not  tell  you  what. 
We  are  doing  our  best  to  bear  things,  but  we  find  it  very, 
very  hard.  As  the  Spanish  proverb  is — but  I  beg  your 
pardon,  you  don't  know  Spanish  ?" 

"  I  am  nothing  of  a  linguist.  I  am  no  exception  to  the 
general  rule  of  Englishmen,  that  their  own  tongue  is 
enough  for  them." 

"Please  to  tell  me  plainly.  My  memory  seems  con- 
fused. But  I  think  you  have  shown  some  knowledge  of 
it.  And  I  think  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  you 
could  read  Don  Quixote  very  fairly  from  his  copy." 

"  No  ;  but  just  a  little,  very  badly,  and  with  the  help  of 
a  dictionary  and  my  own  recollection  of  Latin." 

"Then  you  know  what  my  mother  said  just  now?  I 
hope  not.  Oh,  I  should  grieve  so  !" 

"  Well,  Miss  Waldron,  if  you  insist  upon  the  truth,  I 
cannot  deny  that  I  understood  her." 

Nicie's  eyes  flashed  as  he  spoke ;  then  she  rose  and  went 
to  him  hastily,  for  he  was  going,  and  had  taken  up  his  hat 
to  leave  her,  inasmuch  as  she  now  could  take  care  of  herself. 

"Put  down  your  hat,"  she  said,  in  her  own  pretty 
style  of  issuing  orders  in  the  days  of  yore ;  "  now  give 
me  both  your  hands,  as  you  held  mine  just  now,  and  look 
at  me  honestly  and  without  reserve." 

"  All  that  I  am  doing,"  answered  Jemmy  Fox,  happy 
to  have  her  so,  and  throwing  the  dawn  of  a  smile  into  the 
depth  of  her  dear  eyes.  "  Miss  Waldron,  I  am  doing  it." 

"Then  go  on  like  this:  'Miss  Waldron' — or  you  may 
even  for  once  say,  'Nicie' — '  I  have  never  been  base  enough 
for  a  moment  to  imagine  that  you  had  any  doubt  of  me.' 
Say  all  that  from  the  bottom  of  your  heart." 


CAMELLIAS  157 

"  Nicie,  I  say  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  that  I  knew 
you  were  too  noble  to  have  any  doubt  of  me  in  that  way." 

"  I  should  hope  so,"  she  said,  as  she  dropped  her  eyes, 
for  fear  of  showing  all  that  was  in  them.  "  You  have 
done  me  justice,  and  it  will  be  done  to  you.  I  was  only 
afraid,  though  I  knew  better,  that  you  might — for  men 
are  not  like  us — " 

"  No,  they  are  not ;  and  more  shame  for  them.  Oh, 
Nicie,  what  do  I  care  now  if  the  whole  world  goes  against 
me?" 

She  gave  him  one  steadfast  look,  as  if  that  recklessness 
had  no  shock  for  her,  and,  in  fact,  had  been  duly  expected. 
Then,  knowing  by  the  eyes  what  had  been  nursing  in  her 
heart  for  months,  she  smiled  the  smile  that  is  deeper 
almost  in  the  human  kind  than  tears,  and  happily  more 
lasting.  The  young  man  proved  himself  worthy  of  her  by 
cherishing  it  without  a  word. 

"  I  may  never  see  you  again,"  said  Nicie,  coming  back 
to  proper  form,  though  they  both  knew  that  was  humbug — 
"  never  again,  or  not  for  years.  It  will  be  impossible  for 
you  now  to  come — to  come  as  you  used  to  do.  But  re- 
member, if  it  is  any  comfort  to  you,  and  I  think  it  will 
be  a  little,  that  no  one  is  more  miserable  about  this 
wicked,  wicked  charge,  than  the  one  who  has  more  right 
than  any — yes,  much  more  than  she  has  " — and  she  waved 
her  hand  after  her  mother's  steps. 

"  Yes ;  or  at  any  rate  quite  as  much.  Darling,  darling 
Nicie  dear,  don't  get  excited  again,  for  my  sake." 

"  I  am  not  excited ;  and  I  don't  mean  to  be.  But  you 
are  welcome  to  tell  everybody,  everybody,  Jemmy,  exactly 
what  I  think  of  you  ;  and  my  dear  father  thought  the 
same." 

"  You  are  an  angel,  and  nothing  less.  Something  con- 
siderably more,  I  think,"  said  Jemmy,  confining  himself 
to  moderation. 

"  Hush !"  she  replied,  though  not  in  anger  ;  for  ladies 
like  that  comparison.  And  then,  as  he  could  not  better  it, 
he  whispered,  "God  bless  you,  dear,  as  you  have  blessed 
me !"  Before  she  could  answer  he  was  gone. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 
CONCUSSION 


ALL  the  time  these  things  were  going  on  the  patient 
Christie  had  been  waiting,  or  rather  driving  to  and  fro, 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  private  grounds.  These  were  large, 
and  well  adorned  with  trees  of  ancient  growth  and  clumps 
of  shrubs  and  ferny  dingles.  Southward  stretched  the 
rich  Perle  valley,  green  with  meadows  beloved  by  cows, 
who  expressed  their  fine  emotions  in  the  noblest  cream ; 
on  the  north-east  side  was  the  Beacon  Hill,  sheltering 
from  the  bitter  winds,  and  forming  a  goodly  landmark ; 
while  to  the  north  and  west  extended  heathery  downs 
with  sweet  short  grass,  knolls  of  Scotch  fir  here  and  there, 
and  gorse  forever  blooming.  Across  these  downs,  and  well 
above  the  valley  margin,  ran  one  of  the  two  great  western 
roads,  broad  and  smooth  as  a  ball-room  floor,  and  ringing 
some  forty  times  a  day  with  the  neigh  and  the  tramp  and  har- 
ness-rattle of  four  steeds  tossing  their  heads  up,  and  the  mu- 
sical blasts  of  long  brass  horn,  or  merry  notes  of  key-bugle. 

Christie  Fox,  in  her  own  opinion,  was  an  exceedingly 
fine  whip.  Tandem-driving  was  then  much  in  vogue  ;  and 
truly  to  be  a  good  tandem-whip  was  one  of  the  loftiest 
aspirations  of  the  rational  being  who  could  afford  it. 
Christie  was  scarcely  up  to  that  mark  yet,  although  she 
had  been  known  to  "  tool  a  team,"  when  her  father  had 
the  gout,  and  there  was  some  one  at  her  side.  So  it  may 
be  supposed  with  what  sweet  contempt  her  sparkling  eyes 
regarded  Church-warden  Farrant's  rattle-trap  and  his  old 
cob  Punch  anteceding  it. 

"  Now  don't  you  go  capering  about,  Miss  Chris,"  her 
brother  had  said  when  he  left  her.  "I  should  have 
brought  George,  or  at  any  rate  the  boy.  These  lanes  are 
so  narrow,  and  the  ditches  such  a  depth." 


CONCUSSION  159 

"  Well,  Jemmy,  it  shows  how  little  you  have  been  at 
home!  Why,  I  can  drive  Sparkler  and  Wild -oats  and 
Hurricane.  To  think  of  my  coming  to  grief  with  this  old 
screw  !" 

"  You  are  a  wonder,  no  doubt.  But  at  any  rate,  be 
careful.  He  is  a  quiet  old  buffer,  but  he  has  got  a  temper 
of  his  own.  Why,  he  upset  the  reverend  last  summer." 

"  He  won't  spill  me,  I  can  tell  him  that.  The  reverend 
is  a  muff — he  should  have  let  him  say  his  prayers." 

For  a  long  time  the  young  lady  proved  that  she  was 
right.  Punch  went  up  and  down,  and  even  on  the  com- 
mon, as  grave  as  a  judge,  and  as  steady  as  a  church. 
"  Poor  old  chap !"  said  Christie  to  him.  "  Why,  you 
haven't  got  the  pluck  to  call  your  soul  your  own." 
Punch  only  replied  with  a  whisk  of  his  tail,  as  if  to  say, 
**  Well,  I  can  call  this  my  own,"  and  pursued  his  reflec- 
tions with  a  pensive  head. 

But  suddenly  the  scene  changed.  A  five-barred  gate 
was  flung  mightily  open,  half  across  the  lane,  with  a 
fierce  creak  of  iron  and  a  shivering  of  wood ;  and  out 
poured  a  motley  crowd  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  rattling  tea- 
kettles, and  beating  frying-pans,  blowing  old  cow's  horns, 
and  flourishing  a  blown  dozen  of  Bob  Jakes's  bladders 
with  nuts  inside  of  them.  Punch  was  coming  past  in  a 
moody  state  of  mind,  down  upon  his  luck  in  some  degree, 
and  wondering  what  the  world  was  made  for,  if  a  piece  of 
iron  in  a  horse's  mouth  was  allowed  to  deny  him  the  Al- 
mighty's gift  of  grass.  However,  he  resigned  himself 
about  all  that. 

But  when  this  tremendous  uproar  broke  upon  him — for 
it  happened  to  be  the  northern  party  of  the  parish,  beat- 
ing bounds  towards  the  back  of  Beacon  Hill,  and  eager  to 
win  a  bet  about  where  they  met  the  other  lot — and  when 
a  gate  was  flung  almost  into  his  shaky  knees,  which  had 
begun  for  some  time  to  "  come  over,"  up  rose  the  spirit 
of  his  hunting-days,  for  he  had  loved  the  hounds  when 
he  was  young.  There  was  no  room  to  rise  the  gate,  or 
perhaps  he  would  have  tried  it,  for  the  mettle  of  springier 
times  sprang  up,  and  he  had  never  heard  a  louder  noise 
in  the  most  exciting  burst.  Surely,  his  duty  was  at  least 
to  jump  a  hedge. 


160  PEELYCEOSS 

He  forgot  altogether  that  he  was  between  two  shafts, 
and  that  a  young  lady  was  intrusted  to  his  care.  Swerv- 
ing to  the  off-side  he  saw  a  comely  gap,  prepared,  no 
doubt,  by  Providence,  for  the  benefit  of  a  horse  not  quite 
so  young  as  he  used  to  be.  And  without  hesitation  he 
went  at  it,  meaning  no  harm,  and  taking  even  less  heed  of 
the  big  ditch  on  this  side  of  it.  Both  shafts  snapped, 
though  of  fine  lance-wood,  the  four-wheeler  became  two 
vehicles,  each  with  a  pair  of  wheels  to  it,  and  over  the 
back  flew  Christie  like  a  sail  blown  out  of  the  bolt-ropes. 

Luckily  she  wore  large  bell-sleeves,  as  every  girl  with 
self-respect  was  then  compelled  to  do  ;  and  these,  like 
parachutes  expanding,  broke  the  full  speed  of  her  head- 
long flight.  Even  so  it  must  have  fared  very  badly  with 
her — for  her  hat,  being  stringless,  had  flown  far  away — had 
she  been  allowed  to  strike  the  earth ;  but  quicker  than 
thought  a  very  active  figure  sprang  round  the  head  of  the 
gate,  and  received  the  impact  of  her  head  upon  a  broad, 
staunch  breast.  The  blow  was  severe,  and  would  have 
knocked  the  owner  down,  had  he  not  been  an  English 
yeoman. 

Upon  a  double-breasted  waistcoat  made  of  otter  skin, 
soft  and  elastic,  he  received  the  full  brunt  of  the  young 
lady's  head  as  the  goal-keeper  stops  a  foot-ball.  Throw- 
ing forward  his  arms,  he  was  just  in  time  to  catch  more 
of  her  as  it  descended ;  and  thus  was  this  lovely  maiden 
saved  from  permanent  disfigurement,  if  not  from  death. 
But  for  the  time  she  knew  nothing  of  this. 

Frank  Gilham  held  her  very  firmly  in  his  arms  and 
wondered,  as  well  he  might  do,  at  her  good-fortune  and 
his  own.  Others  came  crowding  round  the  gate,  but  none 
had  the  least  idea  who  she  was,  and  Gilham  would  not 
permit  one  of  them  to  touch  her,  though  many  would 
gladly  have  shared  his  load.  Throughout  all  history  it 
has  been  the  nature  of  the  British  yeoman  to  bear  his 
own  burden,  be  it  good  or  be  it  evil. 

"  Her  be  crule  doiled,"  "  A'  vear  her  neck  be  bracken," 
"Look  e'  zee  what  purty  hair  her  hath!"  "  Vetch  a  drap 
of  watter,"  "  Carr'  un  up  to  big  'ouze,"  "  Her  be  scrunched 
like  a  trummot" — in  this  way  they  went  on,  all  gaping 
and  staring,  eager  to  help,  but  not  sure  of  the  way. 


CONCUSSION  161 

"  Lift  the  gate  from  its  hinges  and  lay  it  down  here," 
said  Gilham,  for  she  still  remained  senseless ;  "  run  to 
yon  rick — they've  been  hay-binding  there  ;  bring  a  couple 
of  trusses,  and  spread  them  on  the  gate." 

In  two  minutes  Christie  was  lying  on  the  gate — for  Dev- 
onshire men  can  be  quick  when  they  like — bedded  and 
pillowed  among  sweet  hay,  with  Frank  Gilham's  coat 
spread  across  her  pretty  dress,  and  his  hand  supporting 
her  fair  head,  and  easing  the  jerks  as  they  bore  her  up 
the  road.  But  before  they  had  gone  more  than  ten  or 
twenty  yards  towards  Walderscourt,  whom  should  they 
come  upon  but  Dr.  Jemmy  Fox,  looking  very  joyful,  un- 
til he  met  them  ? 

"  My  sister  !  My  own  dear  Chris  !"  he  exclaimed  ;  and 
they  fell  away,  while  he  examined  her. 

"  Concussion.  Only  slight,  I  hope.  Thank  God  !"  he 
said,  with  his  eyes  full  of  tears ;  "  keep  her  head  like  that. 
I  will  take  this  end ;  now,  who  the  other  ?  But  not  to  the 
court. — anywhere  but  that.  Never  mind  why.  I  can't  stop 
to  explain.  What  is  the  nearest  house  this  other  way  ?" 

"  Mother's  is  not  more  than  half  a  mile  away,  and  good 
level  road,"  answered  Gilham.  "  She'd  be  well  treated 
there.  You  may  trust  us  for  that." 

"  You  are  a  brick.  Take  the  other  end,  Frank.  Some 
fellow  with  good  legs  run  in  front,  and  tell  Mrs.  Gilham 
what  her  son  has  said.  No  crowding  round  there ;  we 
want  all  the  air.  One  or  two  of  you  run  and  catch  Mr. 
Farrant's  horse,  before  he  tumbles  through  that  harrow. 
The  rest  of  you  go  on  with  your  beating  work."  For 
Punch  was  careering  across  a  ploughed  field  like  a  wreck- 
er with  his  plunder  at  his  heels. 

By  the  time  they  arrived  at  White  Post  Farm,  Mrs. 
Gilham  was  ready  to  receive  them,  a  kind  old  lady  as 
ever  lived,  sensible,  quiet,  and  ready-witted.  A  bed  on 
the  ground-floor  was  ready,  and  poor  Christie,  who  still 
lay  as  if  in  a  heavy  sleep,  was  carried  in  very  gently  and 
placed  as  well  as  might  be  upon  it.  Sometimes  she  was 
breathing  with  long  gasps,  and  at  other  times  showing  no 
life  at  all,  and  her  eyes  were  closed  as  in  a  soft,  deep 
sleep.  "  The  pretty  dear !  The  poor  young  thing !" 
cried  Mrs.  Gilham,  and  a  real  cry  it  was. 


162  PERLYCEOSS 

"  I  shall  not  leave  her  till  she  comes  to  herself — that  is, 
if  you  will  let  me  stop,"  said  her  brother,  who  was  much 
more  anxious  than  he  cared  to  let  them  see.  "  But  if  you 
could  send  a  note  to  my  Old  Barn,  George  would  come 
over  with  a  little  chest  I  want." 

"  In  twenty  minutes  I  will  be  there,"  answered  Gilham, 
"  and  back  in  another  fifteen  with  it,  if  it  will  come  on 
horseback." 

He  had  saddled  a  horse,  and  was  off  in  two  minutes, 
while  Fox  called  after  him  down  the  lane,  to  see  on  his 
road  through  Priestwell  whether  Dr.  Gronow  was  at 
home,  and  beg  him  to  come  up  if  possible. 

Gronow  came  at  once  when  called ;  for  if  anything  is 
remarkable  among  the  professors  of  the  healing  art  (be- 
yond their  inability  to  heal)  it  is  the  good  -  will  with 
which  they  always  try  their  best,  and  the  largeness  of 
their  ministrations  to  each  other's  families.  Parsons  ap- 
peal to  one  another  for  a  leg -up  very  freely;  but  both 
reading-desk  and  pulpit  feel  that  the  strange  foot  is  not 
up  to  much  unless  it  has  its  footing  paid. 

But  Dr.  Gronow  (besides  the  kindness  of  his  kind  pro- 
fession, always  at  the  service  of  its  members)  had  an 
especial  regard  for  Fox,  as  a  young  man  much  of  his  own 
type,  one  who  dared  to  think  for  himself,  and  being 
thoroughly  well-grounded,  often  felt  impatient  at  the  vast 
uncertainty  above.  Whatever  faith  a  young  man  may 
feel  in  his  own  powers  of  perception,  it  is  a  happy  mo- 
ment when  a  veteran  confirms  him. 

"  She  will  be  all  right,"  said  the  man  of  long  practice, 
after  careful  examination  ;  "  only  she  must  have  her  time, 
which  you  know  as  well  as  I  do.  Never  mind  if  she  lies 
like  this  for  twelve  or  even  for  twenty -four  hours; 
though  I  do  not  think  that  it  will  last  so  long.  She 
ought  to  have  a  face  she  knows  and  loves  to  meet  her 
own  when  her  consciousness  returns.  Then  you  know 
how  to  treat  her.  Verbum  sat.  .  But  I  want  to  have  a 
long  talk  with  you  when  this  anxiety  is  over.  Why  have 
you  kept  so  long  out  of  my  way  ?  Come  down  to  my 
house  when  your  sister  can  spare  you." 

Fox  would  have  found  it  hard  to  say,  or  at  any  rate  to 
tell  Gronow,  what  were  his  reasons  for  avoiding  Priest- 


CONCUSSION  163 

well  while  the  present  black  cloud  hung  over  him.  In 
fact,  to  himself  his  own  motives  had  not  been  very  clear 
or  well  considered ;  but  pride  was  perhaps  the  foremost. 
If  Gronow  intended  to  take  his  part,  the  first  thing  to  do 
was  to  call  at  Old  Barn,  and  let  everybody  know  it.  And 
the  young  man  failed  to  recollect  that  the  elder  might 
have  good  reasons  of  his  own  for  keeping  his  distance 
just  at  first.  Nothing  but  kind  consideration  had  pre- 
vented Gronow  from  calling  upon  Fox  straightway,  for 
he  knew  what  significance  people  would  attach  to  such  a 
visit.  Suspicion  had  fallen  upon  him  as  well ;  and  many 
of  the  baser  sort  declared  that  old  and  young  doctor  had 
arranged  that  piece  of  work  between  them. 

Liberal  as  he  was,  and  kind,  whenever  a  case  of  real 
want  or  trouble  was  brought  before  him,  the  retired  phy- 
sician was  not  beloved  yet  by  his  neighbours,  and  he 
knew  it,  and  was  well  content  to  have  it  so. 

"  A  queer  old  chap !"  was  the  usual  summary  of  his 
character  in  the  parish  ;  and  the  charitable  added,  u  no  call 
to  blame  him ;  a  little  bit  touched  in  the  upper  story." 

To  the  vast  relief  of  her  brother,  and  the  delight  of  her 
kind  hostess,  Christie  Fox  that  very  night  contrived  to 
come  to  herself  almost  as  suddenly  as  she  had  left  it. 

"  What  is  all  this  about  ?"  she  asked,  opening  her  clear 
eyes  strongly.  "  Why,  Jemmy,  you  have  got  no  hat  on ! 
And  where  is  mine  ?  Oh,  dear !  oh,  dear  !  Thirty  shillings, 
without  the  trimming." 

"  There  it  is,  dear,  as  large  as  life,  and  not  a  speck  upon 
it.  Now  drink  this  cup  of  tea,  and  then  I'll  finish  what 
I  was  saying." 

"  No,  you  always  talk  so  fast,  and  you  never  let  me  say 
a  word.  I  might  just  as  well  have  no  tongue  at  all." 

The  young  lady  spoke  in  such  fine  ignorance  of  the  self 
she  had  come  back  to  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  of 
her  being  all  there.  And  presently  the  "  cup  of  tea  "  had 
such  a  tranquillizing  power  that  she  fell  into  a  sweet,  deep 
sleep,  and  did  not  awake  until  the  sun  was  as  high  as  he 
meant  to  go  at  that  time  of  the  year.  At  first  she  had  a 
slow,  dull  headache,  and  felt  stiff,  all  over.  But  Mrs.  Gil- 
ham  appearing  with  a  napkined  tray,  thin  toast  and  butter, 
a  couple  of  pullet's  eggs  just  laid,  and  one  or  two  other 


164  PERLYCROSS 

brisk  challenges  at  the  hands  of  her  youngest  daughter, 
nature  arose  with  an  open  mouth  to  have  the  last  word 
about  it,  and  Christie  made  a  famous  breakfast. 

Very  soon  Dr.  Gronow  looked  in  again,  and  smiled  in 
his  dry  way  at  her,  for  he  was  not  a  man  of  many  words. 
She  gave  her  round  wrist  to  be  felt,  and  the  slim  pink 
tongue  to  be  glanced  at,  and  the  bright  little  head  to  be 
certified  cool  and  sound  under  the  curls  ;  and,  passing  this 
examination  with  high  honours,  she  thought  him  a  "  very 
nice  old  man ;"  though  his  face  was  not  at  first  sight  per- 
haps of  the  sweet  and  benevolent  order. 

Then  the  old  doctor  took  the  young  doctor  aside — for 
Jemmy  had  not  been  out  of  hail  all  night — and  said,  "  She 
will  do.  I  congratulate  you.  No  serious  lesion,  no  feverish 
symptoms — just  a  bump  on  her  head  from  a  mother-of- 
pearl  button.  But  she  has  been  severely  shaken.  I  would 
not  move  her  for  a  day  or  two." 

"  May  she  get  up  ?"  asked  Jemmy,  in  that  spirit  of  pure 
submission  with  which  a  doctor  resigns  his  own  family  to 
the  care  of  another,  who  knows  perhaps  less  then  he  him- 
self does.  But  the  plan  is  wise  for  the  most  part,  inas- 
much as  love  is  apt  to  cloud  the  clearest  eyes. 

"  To  be  sure  she  may.  It  will  do  her  good.  But  not  to 
walk  about  yet.  These  people  are  the  kindest  of  the  kind. 
You  may  safely  leave  all  that  to  the  ladies.  Meanwhile, 
you  are  better  out  of  the  way.  Come  down  for  an  hour 
or  two,  and  share  my  early  dinner.  You  want  looking  to 
yourself.  You  have  not  had  a  bit  for  some  twenty-four 
hours." 

It  was  little  more  than  ten  minutes'  walk  to  Gronow's 
house  at  Priestwell,  and  Fox  accepted  the  invitation  gladly. 
Neither  in  the  course  of  their  walk,  nor  during  their  meal, 
did  his  entertainer  refer  to  the  mysterious  subject  which 
was  always  in  the  mind  of  one,  and  often  in  that  of  the 
other.  But  Gronow  enlarged  upon  his  favourite  topic — the 
keen  sagacity,  and  almost  too  accurate  judgment  possessed 
by  trout,  and  the  very  great  difficulty  he  experienced  in 
catching  them,  unless  the  stream  was  muddy. 

"But  you  can't  fish  at  this  time  of  year,"  observed 
Fox  ;  "  at  least,  so  people  say.  I  know  nothing  about  it. 
Hunting  and  shooting  are  more  to  my  taste." 


CONCUSSION  165 

"  You  can  fish  every  day  in  the  year,"  replied  Gronow ; 
"at  any  rate  in  this  river.  There  is  nothing  against  it 
but  prejudice.  The  little  ones  are  as  bright  as  a  new 
shilling  now,  and  the  old  ones  as  a  guinea." 

"  But  surely  they  should  be  allowed  time  to  breed." 

"  That  is  their  business,  and  none  of  mine.  If  they 
choose  to  neglect  what  they  should  be  doing,  and  come 
to  my  hook,  why  I  pull  them  out — that  is  to  say,  if  they 
don't  slip  off." 

"  But  your  hook  has  no  right  to  be  there  just  then." 

"  Is  it  for  a  fish  to  dictate  to  me  how  I  should  employ 
my  time  ?  I  bought  this  property  for  the  fishing.  The 
interest  of  my  money  runs  all  the  year  round,  and  so  must 
what  I  spent  it  on."  Fox  saw  that  he  would  only  irritate 
this  concise  logician  by  further  contention  on  behalf  of  the 
fish ;  and  he  was  quite  disarmed,  when  the  candid  doctor 
added,  "  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  such  a  fellow  as  young 
Pike,  Penniloe's  senior  pupil,  should  be  allowed  to  fish  all 
the  year  round ;  for  he  never  goes  out  without  catching 
something.  But  my  case  is  different ;  the  winter  owes  me 
all  the  blank  days  I  had  in  the  summer ;  and  as  they  were 
nine  out  of  every  ten,  I  shall  not  have  caught  up  the 
record  by  the  time  the  May-fly  comes  back  again." 

"  Then  you  can't  do  much  harm  now,"  thought  Fox ; 
"and  the  trout  will  soon  have  their  revenge,  my  friend — 
a  fine  attack  of  rheumatism,  well  in  season." 

"  And  now,"  said  Dr.  Gronow,  when  dinner  was  over, 
and  "  red  and  white  wine,"  as  they  were  always  called 
then,  had  been  placed  upon  the  table,  not  upon  a  cloth, 
but  on  the  dark -red  sheen — "now  you  can  smoke  if 
you  like  ;  I  don't,  just  at  present.  Let  us  talk  of  all  this 
botheration.  What  an  idiot  world  it  is  !  You  are  young, 
and  will  have  to  wag  your  tail  to  it.  I  go  along  with  my 
tail  straight ;  like  a  dog  who  does  not  care  to  fight,  but  is 
ready,  if  it  comes  to  that." 

"  I  know  pretty  well  how  you  look  at  things.  And  it  is 
the  best  way  for  those  who  can  afford  it.  Of  course,  I 
am  bound  to  pretend  not  to  care ;  and  I  keep  up  pretty 
well,  perhaps.  But  for  all  that,  it  is  not  very  jolly.  If 
my  sister  had  not  turned  up,  I  am  not  sure  how  I  should 
have  got  on  at  all.  Though  Penniloe  was  very  good,  and 


166  PERLYCEOSS 

so  were  several  others,  especially  Mockham.  I  must  have 
a  pipe,  if  you  don't  mind.  It  makes  me  feel  so  grateful." 

"  That  is  something  in  its  favour,  and  shows  how  young 
you  still  remain.  I  would  cultivate  the  pipe  more  than  I 
do,  if  so  it  would  bring  back  my  youth ;  not  for  the 
youth — blind  puppyhood — but  for  thinking  better  of  my 
race,  and  of  myself  as  one  of  them." 

"  It  is  not  for  me  to  reason  with  you,"  Fox  answered, 
humbly,  as  he  blew  a  gentle  cloud ;  "  you  are  far  above 
me  in  every  way.  I  am  stupid  enough,  but  I  always 
know  when  I  come  across  a  stronger  mind." 

"  Not  a  stronger,  but  a  harder  one.  We  will  not  go 
into  that  question  now.  Reams  have  been  written  about 
it,  and  they  leave  us  none  the  wiser.  The  present  point  is 
— how  are  you  to  get  out  of  this  very  nasty  scrape  ?" 

"  I  don't  care  to  get  out.  I  will  face  it  out.  When  a 
man  knows  his  own  innocence — " 

"  That  is  all  very  fine ;  but  it  won't  w6rk.  Your  pros- 
pects do  not  depend,  I  know,  at  all  upon  your  profession. 
But  for  the  sake  of  all  your  friends,  your  sweet,  high- 
spirited  sister,  your  good  mother,  and  all  your  family,  you 
must  not  rest  upon  that  manly  view.  Your  innocence  may 
be  a  coat  of  mail  to  yourself,  but  it  will  not  shelter  them." 

"  I  have  thought  of  all  that.  I  am  not  so  selfish.  But 
who  can  prove  a  negative  ?" 

"  The  man  who  can  prove  the  positive.  You  will  never 
be  quit  until  you  show  who  was  the  real  perpetrator.  A 
big  word  to  use ;  for,  after  all,  the  horror  at  such  things 
is  rather  childish.  The  law  regards  it  so,  and  in  its 
strong  perception  of  mortal  rights  has  made  it  a  felony 
to  steal  the  shroud,  to  steal  the  body  an  indictable  offence, 
to  be  punished  with  fine,  or  (if  a  poor  man  did  it)  with 
imprisonment." 

"  Is  that  the  law  ?  I  could  scarcely  have  believed  it. 
And  they  talk  of  the  absurdities  of  our  profession  !" 

"  Yes,  that  is  the  law.  And  perhaps  you  see  now  why 
your  enemies  have  not  gone  further.  They  see  that  it 
damns  you  ten  times  more  to  lie  under  the  imputation 
than  it  would  to  be  brought  to  trial  and  be  acquitted,  as 
you  must  be.  You  have  not  to  thank  them  for  any  mercy, 
only  for  knowing  their  own  game." 


CONCUSSION  167 

"  It  is  enough  to  make  one  a  misanthrope  for  life,"  said 
TY>x,  looking  really  fierce  once  more.  "  I  hoped  that  they 
had  found  their  mistake  about  me,  and  were  sorry  for  ac- 
cusing an  innocent  man." 

"  Alas,  for  the  credulity  of  youth !  No,  Jemmy,  the 
Philistines  are  upon  thee.  You  have  to  reckon  with  a 
wily  lot,  and  an  implacable  woman  behind  them.  They  will 
take  every  advantage  of  the  rank  cowardice  of  the  clod- 
hopper, and  the  terror  of  all  those  pitch  -  plaster  tales. 
You  know  how  these  things  have  increased  ever  since  that 
idiotic  Act  of  two  or  three  years  back.  That  a  murderer 
should  be  prevented  even  from  affording  some  posthumous 
expiation !  And  yet  people  call  it  a  religious  age — to  rob 
a  poor  wretch  of  his  last  hope  of  heaven !" 

"  Your  idea  is  a  grim  one,"  answered  Fox,  with  a  smile  ; 
"  I  never  saw  it  in  that  light  before.  But  now,  tell  me 
one  thing  —  and  it  is  a  main  point.  You  know  that  you 
can  trust  me  with  your  opinion.  I  confess  that  I  am  at 
my  wit's  end.  The  thing  must  have  been  done  to  solve 
some  doubt.  There  is  no  one  about  here  who  would  dare 
the  risk,  even  if  there  were  any  one  zealous  enough ;  and 
so  far  as  I  know,  short  of  Exeter,  there  are  none  but  hum- 
drums and  jog-trots." 

"  You  have  expressed  your  opinion  already  a  little  too 
freely  to  that  effect,  Master  Jemmy." 

"  Perhaps  I  have ;  but  I  never  meant  it  to  go  round. 
It  was  young  and  silly  of  me.  But  what  I  want  to  ask 
you  is  this,  do  you  think  it  possible  that  —  you  know 
who — " 

-"  Harrison  Gowler?"  said  Dr.  Gronow,  calmly.  "It  is 
possible,  but  most  improbable.  Gowler  knew  what  it  was, 
even  better  than  you  did,  or  I  from  your  account  of  it. 
Introsusception  is  not  so  very  rare,  even  without  a  strain, 
or  the  tendency  to  it  from  an  ancient  wound.  Putting 
aside  all  the  risk  and  expense  —  and  I  know  that  friend 
Gowler  sticks  close  to  his  money — and  dropping  all  the 
feelings  of  a  gentleman  —  what  sufficient  motive  could 
Gowler  have  ?  An  enthusiastic  tyro  might  have  longed  to 
verify,  etc.,  but  not  a  man  of  his  experience.  He  knew  it 
all  as  well  as  if  he  had  seen  it.  No,  you  may  at  once  dis- 
miss that  idea,  if  you  ever  formed  it." 


168  PEKLYCEOSS 

"  I  never  did  form  it.  It  was  suggested ;  and  all  that 
you  have  said  occurred  to  me.  Well,  I  know  not  what  to 
think.  The  mystery  is  hopeless.  All  we  can  be  certain 
of  is  that  the  thing  was  done." 

"  Even  of  that  I  am  not  quite  so  certain.  I  am  never 
sure  of  anything  unless  I  see  it.  I  have  come  across  such 
instances  of  things  established  beyond  doubt — and  yet  they 
never  occurred  at  all.  And  you  know  what  a  set  of  fools 
these  fat-chopped  yokels  are  when  scared.  Why  they  act- 
ually believe  in  Spring  -  heeled  Jack,  Lord  Somebody,  and 
the  ten -thousand -guinea  bet!  And  they  quake  in  their 
beds  if  the  windows  rattle.  Look  at  that  idiot  of  a  black- 
smith swearing  that  he  saw  you  with  the  horse !  A  horse  ? 
A  nightmare,  or  a  mare's-nest,  I  should  say.  Why,  it 
would  not  surprise  me  a  bit  if  it  proved  that  the  worthy 
baronet  is  reposing  in  his  grave,  as  calmly  as  his  brave  and 
warlike  spirit  could  desire.  If  not,  it  is  no  fault  of  our 
profession,  but  the  result  of  some  dark  history  to  which 
as  yet  we  have  no  clew." 

Dr.  Gronow  had  a  manner  of  saying  things,  in  itself  so 
distinct  and  impressive,  and  seconded  so  ably  by  a  lower- 
ing of  his  eyebrows  and  wrinkling  of  his  large  steep  fore- 
head, that  when  he  finished  up  with  his  mouth  set  close, 
and  keen  eyes  fixed  intently,  it  was  hard  to  believe  that  he 
could  be  wrong  —  supposing,  at  least,  that  he  meant  to  be 
right. 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  the  young  man,  strongly  feeling  this 
effect ;  "  you  have  often  surprised  me  by  the  things  you 
have  said.  And  strange  as  they  seemed  they  have  gen- 
erally proved  correct  in  the  end.  But  as  to  your  first 
suggestion,  it  is  impossible ;  I  fear  to  think  of  it,  after 
what  at  least  a  dozen  people  saw,  without  hurry,  and  in 
broad  daylight.  The  other  matter  may  be  as  you  say.  If 
so,  it  only  makes  it  worse  for  me.  What  hope  can  I  have 
of  ever  getting  at  the  bottom  of  it  ?" 

"  Time,  my  dear  fellow,  time  will  show.  And  the  sus- 
picion against  you  will  be  weakening  every  day  if  you 
meet  it  with  calm  disdain.  You  already  have  the  black- 
smith's recantation — a  blow  in  the  teeth  for  your  enemies. 
I  am  not  exactly  like  your  good  parson,  who  exhorts 
you  devoutly  to  trust  in  the  Lord.  *  The  Lord  helps 


CONCUSSION  169 

those  who  help  themselves,'  is  my  view  of  that  question ; 
though  I  begin  to  think  highly  of  Penniloe.  He  was  in- 
clined to  be  rude  about  the  flies  I  use  once  or  twice  last 
summer.  But  I  shall  look  over  that,  as  he  has  been  so  ill. 
I  shall  call  and  inquire  for  him  to-morrow." 

"  But  what  am  I  to  do  to  help  myself  ?  It  is  so  easy  to 
say,  '  take  it  easily.'  What  is  the  first  step  for  me  to  take? 
I  could  offer  rewards  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  I  could 
send  for  experienced  men  from  London.  I  have  written 
to  a  friend  of  mine  there  already,  but  have  had  no  answer. 
I  could  put  myself  in  a  clever  lawyer's  hands.  I  could  do 
a  lot  of  things,  no  doubt,  and  spread  the  matter  far  and 
wide.  But  the  first  result  would  be  to  kill  my  dear  father. 
I  told  you  in  what  a  condition  he  lies." 

"  Yes ;  you  are  terribly  *  handicapped '  as  the  racing 
people  call  it.  Penniloe's  illness  was  much  against  you. 
So  was  your  own  absence.  So  were  several  other  things. 
But  the  worst  of  all  is  your  father's  sad  state,  and  the  bet- 
ter he  gets,  the  worse  the  danger.  But  for  all  that,  I  can 
give  you  one  comfort.  I  have  never  yet  known  things 
combine  against  a  man,  persistently  and  relentlessly,  if  he 
went  straight  ahead  at  them.  They  jangle  among  them- 
selves by-and-by,  even  as  his  enemies  are  sure  to  do ;  and, 
instead  of  being  hunted  down,  he  slips  out  between  them. 
One  thing  I  can  undertake,  perhaps.  But  I  won't  talk  of 
it  until  I  know  more,  and  have  consulted  Penniloe.  What, 
have  you  never  had  a  glass  of  wine  ?  Well,  that  is  too  bad 
of  me !  These  are  the  times  when  even  a  young  man 
wants  it,  and  an  old  one  should  sympathize  with  him  thus. 
Oh,  you  want  to  get  back  to  the  fair  Miss  Christie  ?  Very 
well,  take  her  half  a  dozen  of  my  pears.  These  people 
about  here  don't  know  what  a  pear  is,  according  to  my  in- 
terpretation of  the  word." 
8 


CHAPTER   XIX 
PERCUSSION 

THIS  was  not  the  time  of  year  for  spring  of  hope  and 
bounding  fancy ;  the  first  bloom-bud  of  the  young  heart 
growing  milky,  and  yet  defiant ;  and  the  leaf-bud  pricking 
up,  hard  and  reckless,  because  it  can  never  have  a  family. 
Not  the  time  of  year  for  whispered  openings,  and  shy  blush 
of  petals  still  uncertain  of  the  air,  and  creeping  into  the 
clasp  of  one  another,  because  they  are  afraid  of  coming 
out  too  soon.  Neither  was  there  in  the  air  itself  that  coy, 
delusive,  tricksome  way,  which  it  cannot  help  itself  for 
having,  somewhere  about  the  month  of  April,  when  the 
sun  is  most  to  blame. 

In  a  word  (though  no  man  can  prove  a  negative,  as 
Jemmy  Fox  had  well  remarked)  it  was  the  very  time  when 
no  young  man,  acquainted  with  the  calendar  of  his  Church, 
should  dream  of  falling  into  love,  even  though  he  had  a 
waistcoat  of  otter-skin  and  fourteen  pearl  buttons  upon  it. 

In  spite  of  all  that,  it  was  the  positive  which  prevailed 
in  this  case.  Frank  Gilham  had  received  such  a  blow 
upon  his  heart  that  the  season  and  the  weather  were  noth- 
ing to  it.  The  fall  of  the  leaf  and  retirement  of  the  sap 
— though  the  Saps  now  tell  us  that  it  never  does  retire — 
had  less  than  no  effect  upon  his  circulation.  He  went  in 
vainly  for  a  good  day's  ploughing,  for  he  could  hold  as 
well  as  drive ;  but  there  was  his  waistcoat,  and  his  heart 
inside  it ;  and  even  when  he  hung  the  one  upon  an  oak- 
tree  the  other  kept  going  on  upon  its  private  business, 
and  "  Whoa  !  Stand  still,  will  'e  ?"  had  no  effect  upon  it. 

He  sneaked  into  the  house  as  if  he  had  no  right  there 
— though  his  mother  had  only  a  life  -  interest  —  and  he 
made  a  serious  matter  of  the  shortness  of  his  nails,  and 
felt  a  conscientious  longing,  when  he  saw  his  whiskers,  to 


PERCUSSION  171 

kick  the  barber  at  Pumpington,  who  had  shorn  them  with 
a  pair  of  tailor's  scissors  so  abominably  on  the  last  mar- 
ket-day. But  last  market-day  this  young  man's  heart  had 
been  inditing  of  pigs  and  peas,  whereof  he  had  made  a 
tidy  penny,  because  he  was  a  sharp  fellow  then. 

"  How  is  she  now  ?"  he  asked  his  young  sister,  Rose, 
when  he  came  down  at  last,  discontented  with  himself, 
though  appearing  unusually  smart  to  her. 

"  Well,  thank  you,  Frank,  mother  is  not  quite  the  thing 
to-night.  She  did  not  get  quite  her  proper  rest  you  know, 
on  account  of  the  strange  young  lady.  And  she  never 
took  her  horehound  lozenges.  She  thinks  too  much  of 
others  and  too  little  of  herself — " 

"  As  if  I  did  not  know  all  that !  Will  you  never  tell 
me  anything  I  want  to  know  ?  But  I  suppose  the  young 
lady  won't  keep  her  up  to-night  ?" 

"She?  Oh,  she  is  all  right  enough.  You  should  just 
see  her  eat.  My  goodness !  Talk  of  farm  -  house  ap- 
petites !" 

"  Rose,  who  are  you  to  understand  such  things  ?  You 
have  seen  so  very  little  of  the  world,  and  you  judge  it  en- 
tirely by  yourself.  I  suppose  the  door  is  not  open  ?" 

"  Oh  yes.  Anybody  can  look  in,  if  that's  what  you 
want  to  do.  She  has  been  sitting  up  ever  so  long,  with 
mother's  dressing-gown  and  Sunday  shawl  on.  Such  a 
guy  you  never  see  in  all  your  life !" 

"  A  pity  you  can't  be  a  guy,  then.  Why,  Rose,  if  you 
only  had  a  hundredth  part — " 

"  Yes,  I  dare  say.  But  I  don't  want,  don't  you  see  ?  I 
am  quite  contented  as  I  am ;  and  better  judges  than  you 
will  ever  be — why,  that  coloured  hair  is  quite  out  of  fashion 
now.  Everybody  goes  in  for  this  sort  of  tint,  and  a  lead- 
en comb  to  make  it  darker.  Corkscrews  are  all  the  rage, 
and  they  can't  be  too  black.  Why,  Minnie  Farrant  told 
me,  last  Sunday,  that  she  read  on  the  best  authority — " 

«  Her  Bible,  or  her  Prayer-book?" 

"Don't  be  so  absurd.  The  very  best  authority  that 
Queen  Adelaide  herself  told  his  Majesty  as  much,  and  he 
said  he  was  a  tar,  and  the  best  pitch  wasn't  black.  That 
was  to  please  her,  you  know.  Wasn't  it  clever  of  him? 
Oh,  Frank,  why  don't  you  fall  in  love  with  Minnie  Farrant 


172  PEKLYCROSS 

— your  own  godfather's  favourite  child,  and  they  say  she'll 
have  four  thousand  pounds  ?" 

"  Minnie  Farrant !  Why,  I'd  rather  have  a  broomstick. 
Though  she  is  all  very  well  in  her  way,  of  course." 

"  She  is  the  prettiest  girl  in  this  parish  by  long  chalks, 
except,  of  course,  Nicie  Waldron.  And  I  suppose  you 
wouldn't  quite  stick  up  to  her." 

"  Stick  up,  indeed  !  Is  that  the  way  you  learn  to  express 
yourself  at  a  finishing  -  school  ?  But  do  look  sharp  with 
the  frying-pan,  if  your  corkscrews  are  not  too  precious.  I 
don't  want  Minnie  Farrant,  nor  even  Miss  Waldron  ;  I  want 
my  little  bit  of  supper,  and  you  know  it  well  enough.  I 
am  sorry  for  the  ninny  that  ever  falls  in  love  with  you." 

"  So  am  I.  Because  I  won't  have  him.  But  what  fun 
it  will  be !  I  shall  starve  him  out.  All  you  men  think 
about  is  eating ;  and  I  shall  say — " 

"  Rose  again,  as  usual !  Her  long  tongue  running  away 
with  her."  Mrs.  Gilham  looked  very  serious,  for  every 
day  she  found  stronger  proof  that  girls  were  not  as  they 
used  to  be.  "  You  have  had  your  tea,  child,  and  you  want 
nothing  more.  I  am  sure  you  should  be  the  very  last  to 
talk  as  if  eating  were  a  sin.  Go  and  help  Mary  with  your 
dear  brother's  supper.  He  has  been  hard  at  work  all  day." 

"Sticks  to  his  work,  wants  no  diverting — 

A  model  young  man  in  the  farming  line! 
Never  goes  hunting,  dancing,  flirting, 

Doesn't  know  the  flavour  of  a  glass  of  wine." 

Away  danced  Rosie  to  the  tune  of  her  own  song,  with 
her  light  figure  frisking  from  side  to  side  of  the  long  stone 
passage. 

"  Ah,  me  !  I  fear  we  shall  have  trouble  yet  with  that 
very  thoughtless  girl.  She  can  only  see  the  light  side  of 
everything.  It  is  high  time  for  her  now ;  why,  before  I 
was  seventeen —  But  Frank,  you  don't  look  like  yourself 
to-night !"  The  old  lady  went  up  to  him,  and  pushed 
aside  his  hair,  as  crisp  and  curly  as  a  double  hyacinth. 
"  I  am  almost  sure  there  is  something  on  your  mind.  Your 
dear  father  had  exactly  that  expression  upon  his  face  at 
periods  of  his  married  life.  But  then  it  was  always  the 


PERCUSSION  173 

times  when  he  had  rheumatics  in  his  left  shoulder-blade  ; 
and  I  used  to  iron  them  out  with  brown  paper,  the  dark- 
est brown  that  you  can  get,  and  a  sprinkle  of  vinegar  un- 
derneath, as  hot  as  ever  you  can  bear  it ;  in  fact,  until  it 
begins  to  singe,  and  then — " 

"  Well,  nobody  will  ever  do  that  to  me,  thank  God !" 
Frank  spoke  in  a  very  reckless  tone,  and  strictly  avoided 
his  mother's  eyes. 

"  I  will,  my  son,  if  I  live  long  enough.  Old  Mrs.  Hor- 
ner  used  to  say — not  the  present  Mrs.  John,  you  know,  but 
her  husband's  mother — " 

"  Excuse  me,  dear  mother,  but  I  thought  I  heard  a  call. 
Shall  I  go  and  knock  at  the  young  lady's  door  ?" 

"  Frank,  how  can  you  ask  such  a  question  ?  Not  that 
she  is  not  in  very  pretty  order,  and  fit  for  any  one  to  look 
at  her ;  with  my  dressing-gown  on  as  good  as  new,  and  the 
big  picture-Bible  on  one  side  of  her,  and  The  Fashiona- 
ble Lady's  Vade  Mecum  on  the  other." 

"How  queer  she  must  look  in  your  dressing-gown, 
mother  !  Quite  an  old  frump,  I  suppose  ?" 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  my  son.  But  as  it 
happens,  Miss  Christie  Fox  does  not  look  at  all  like  an  old 
frump,  though  your  poor  mother  would,  of  course,  and 
must  expect  it,  though  not  perhaps  quite  to  be  told  of  it. 
On  the  contrary,  Miss  Fox  looks  very  bright  and  bloom- 
ing, with  her  eyes  like  the  sky  itself,  and  her  lovely  hair 
flowing  all  down  her  shoulders." 

"  I  had  better  go  and  see  whether  she  has  knocked  for 
something.  I  need  not  go  in,  of  course.  In  fact,  I  should 
not  think  of  it,  only  just  to  pop  my  head  inside  the  door, 
and  then — " 

"  No,  you  won't  pop  it,  sir,  in  any  place  of  the  kind. 
Remember  that  it  is  a  bedroom,  and  you  are  a  gentleman 
— or  ought  to  be." 

"  Oh,  come,  mother !  That's  a  little  too  hard  on  me. 
I  never  meant  anything,  except  to  save  you  trouble  by 
just  asking —  Well,  I  didn't  think  you  would  speak  to 
me  in  that  way." 

"  Well,  my  boy,  perhaps  I  spoke  too  hastily.  Words 
turn  so  different  outside  the  lips  !  But  I  should  not  like 
a  visitor  of  ours  to  think  she  had  fallen  among  savages. 


174  PEELYCROSS 

But  here  comes  your  supper  at  last,  and  small  thanks  to 
Rosie.  Why,  at  her  time  of  life,  I  should  have  been  too 
proud  to  serve  my  only  brother,  hand  and  foot.  But  I 
must  just  run  back,  and  get  my  young  lady  tucked  up. 
High  time  for  her  to  be  in  bed  again.  Her  brother  has 
sent  her  a  box  full  of  things,  and  so  we  shall  be  able  to  get 
her  out  a  bit  to-morrow,  if  the  weather  permits,  and  Dr. 
Gronow." 

Dr.  Gronow  permitted,  and  so  did  the  weather.  Can 
any  man  remember  when  he  was  stopped  from  making  a 
fool  of  himself  by  the  weather,  or  encouraged  in  any  wis- 
dom by  it?  How  many  a  youth  under  vast  umbrella, 
warranted  to  shelter  two,  if  their  shoulders  came  nice  and 
close  together,  with  the  storm  beating  on  them,  and  sug- 
gesting— but  such  umbrellas  are  not  made  now,  fine  cano- 
pies of  whalebone — who  would  buy  them  ?  Who  thinks 
of  more  than  his  own  top-hat,  unless  he  sees  a  chance 
of  a  gold-band  round  it?  And  that,  to  tell  the  truth,  has 
been  very  charming  always. 

But  here  was  Frank  Gilham,  without  any  thought  of  that. 
He  knew  that  Jemmy  Fox  was  a  fine  young  fellow,  per- 
haps a  little  bit  above  him  in  the  social  scale,  and  likely 
to  be  a  wealthy  man  some  day.  But  of  sweet  Christie  he 
knew  nothing,  except  that  he  wanted  to  know  a  great  deal. 

Therefore  he  found  that  the  young  mare  was  puffing, 
and  wanted  wet  bandages,  and  a  day  in  stable — excess  of 
synovial  oil  is  a  serious  study.  While  on  the  other  hand 
old  Tommy,  as  hard  and  as  dry  as  a  brick-bat,  was  not  al- 
together free  from  signs  of  rheumatism,  and  had  scraped 
up  his  litter  in  a  manner  that  meant  something.  He  put 
it  to  his  mother,  whether  they  should  plough  to-day.  It 
might  be  all  right,  and  the  horses  were  hers.  If  she 
thought  wise  to  venture  it — 

"  It  is  no  use  trying  to  persuade  me,  Frank,"  Mrs.  Gil- 
ham  answered  ;  "  I  won't  risk  it.  Your  dear  father  lost  a 
good  horse  once,  although  I  advised  him  to  the  contrary. 
Under  Providence,  our  first  duty  is  to  the  faithful  and 
long-suffering  creatures  provided  by  Him  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind.  You  may  try  to  persuade  me  as  much  as 
you  like.  But  you  don't  seern  to  have  got  your  plough- 
ing trousers  on !" 


PERCUSSION  175 

"  That  is  not  a  question  of  ten  minutes.  When  I  looked 
out  of  window  the  first  thing  this  morning — " 

"  Yes,  to  be  sure.  You  were  considering  the  weather. 
Your  dear  father  did  the  same ;  though  always  wrong 
about  it.  But  it  is  useless  to  argue  with  me,  Frank.  I 
must  have  my  own  way  sometimes." 

"  Very  well.  Very  well,  then  I  won't  go.  I  have  got 
a  lot  of  little  things  to  see  to  here.  Why,  the  rack  in  the 
kitchen  would  soon  be  rack  and  ruin." 

"  Frank,  you  do  say  the  very  cleverest  things.  And  I 
feel  in  myself  that  it  never  comes  from  me.  Thank  God 
that  I  have  such  a  dutiful  son,  though  his  mind  is  so  su- 
perior." 

The  young  man  exerted  his  superior  mind  upon  a  very 
solid  breakfast,  topped  up  with  honey,  gushing  limpid 
from  the  comb,  sweeter  than  the  softest  beeswing  of  the 
meed  of  love.  Then  he  sauntered  in  the  mow-yard  with 
his  ginger  terrier  Jack,  whom  no  wedded  love  could  equal 
in  aptitude  to  smell  a  rat.  But  hay  was  sweet,  and  clover 
sweeter,  and  the  rich  deep  ricks  of  wheat — golden  piles  on 
silver  straddles — showed  the  glossy  stalk,  and  savoured 
of  the  glowing  grain  within.  A  man  might  thrust  his  arm 
into  the  yellow  thicket  here  and  there,  and  fetch  the 
chined  and  plump  ear  out,  and  taste  the  concrete  milki- 
ness. 

"  Rose  told  me  that  I  should  just  see  her  eat,"  Frank 
Gilham  meditated ;  "  what  a  greedy  thing  to  say  !  Was 
it  because  eggs  are  now  so  scarce,  and  Rose  wanted  all  of 
them  for  herself?  But  if  she  likes  good  things  I  could 
have  this  rick  of  brown  wheat  threshed  to-morrow.  The 
bread  is  ten  times  as  sweet  and  toothsome — oh,  by-the-bye, 
what  teeth  she  has,  like  wind-flower  buds  among  roses. 
Two  or  three  times  her  lips  just  showed  them,  while  she 
was  lying  upon  that  hay.  But  what  are  her  teeth  to  com- 
pare with  her  lips?  And  did  anybody  ever  see  such 
cheeks,  even  with  the  pink  flown  out  of  them  ?  There's 
nothing  that  you  could  find  a  flaw  in ;  forehead,  hair,  and 
eyes,  and  nose — though  I  can't  pretend  quite  that  I  have 
seen  her  eyes  yet — merely  a  sort  of  a  flash  in  the  air  while 
she  was  flying  over  the  back  rail  of  the  trap.  Only  there 
is  no  denying  that  they  must  be  like  heaven  itself,  full  of 


176  PEKLYCKOSS 

angels.  Mother  says  the  sky,  but  that  sounds  so  common. 
So  far  as  that  goes,  everybody  is  allowed  to  look  at  the 
sky;  but  who  would  care  ever  to  see  it  again,  after  a 
glimpse —  Jack,  what  are  you  about  there  ?  Got  into  a 
gin  ?  Well,  serves  you  right." 

"Frank!  Frank!  Frank!"  A  loud  call  rang  among 
the  ricks.  "  Got  away  smoking  again,  I'll  be  bound.  I 
never  can  understand  how  it  is  he  doesn't  set  every  bless- 
ed rick  on  fire." 

"  Not  smoking  at  all,  as  it  happens.  But  how  fright- 
fully shrill  your  voice  is,  Rosie !" 

"  What  a  swell  we  are,  to  be  sure,  to-day !  And  get- 
ting quite  nervous.  Wants  cotton-wool  in  his  ears,  poor 
dear !  But  the  precious  young  lady  is  just  coming  out. 
And  mother  says  you  should  be  somewhere  handy,  in  case 
of  her  being  taken  faint.  About  as  likely  to  faint  as  I  am, 
I  should  say.  Now  mind  your  P's  and  Q's,  in  spite  of  all 
your  Greek  and  Latin.  You  may  make  your  bow  about 
ten  miles  off ;  but  not  to  speak  until  spoken  to.  That's 
right,  flourish  your  hair  up.  But  you  needn't  run  twenty 
miles  an  hour." 

On  the  gravel-walk  bordered  by  hollyhocks — now  a  row 
of  gaunt  sceptres  without  any  crowns — the  kind  Mrs.  Gil- 
ham  was  leading  her  guest,  who  did  not  require  to  be  led 
at  all,  but  was  too  well-bred  to  reject  the  friendly  hand. 
Christie  was  looking  a  little  delicate,  and  not  quite  up  to 
the  mark  of  her  usual  high  spirits;  but  the  man  must 
have  been  very  hard  to  please  who  could  find  much  fault 
on  that  score. 

"  Oh,  what  a  beautiful  view  you  have !"  she  exclaimed, 
as  the  sun  broke  through  the  mist,  spreading  Perle  valley 
with  a  veil  of  purest  pearl.  "  I  had  no  idea  it  was  such  a 
lovely  place.  And  the  house  and  the  garden  and  the  glen 
that  slopes  away.  Why,  that  must  be  Perlycross  tower  in 
the  distance,  and  that  tall  white  house  the  rectory.  Why, 
there's  the  bridge  with  seven  lofty  arches,  and  the  light 
shining  through  them !  More  light  than  water,  I  should 
say.  What  on  earth  induced  them  to  put  such  a  mighty 
bridge  across  such  a  petty  river?  I  dare  say  they  knew 
best ;  but  just  look  at  the  meadows,  almost  as  green  as 
they  would  be  in  May !  No  wonder  you  get  such  lovely 


PERCUSSION  177 

butter.  And  the  trees  down  the  valley,  just  in  the  right 
places  to  make  the  most  of  themselves  and  their  neighbour- 
hood. Why,  half  of  them  have  got  their  leaves  on  still, 
here  nearly  at  the  end  of  November,  and  such  leaves,  too 
— gold,  red,  and  amber,  straw-colour,  cinnamon,  and  rus- 
set !" 

"  And  if  you  come  up  to  that  bench,  my  dear,"  replied 
Mrs.  Gilham,  as  proud  as  Punch  at  the  praises  of  her  na- 
tive vale,  "  that  bench  at  the  top  of  our  little  orchard — my 
poor  dear  husband  had  such  taste  he  could  find  the  proper 
place  for  everything — gravel-walk  all  the  way,  and  noth- 
ing but  a  little  spring  to  cross ;  why,  there  you  can  hear 
the  key-bugle  of  the  '  Defiance.'  Punctual  every  day  at 
half -past  ten.  We  always  set  our  kitchen  clock  by  it. 
The  guard,  as  soon  as  he  sees  our  middle  chimney,  strikes 
up  as  loud  as  ever  he  can  blow, '  Oh,  the  roast-beef  of  Old 
England,'  or  '  To  glory  we  steer,'  for  the  horses  to  be 
ready.  So  some  people  say,  but  I  happen  to  know  that  it 
is  done  entirely  to  please  us.  Because  we  sent  cider  out 
every  day  when  that  hot  week  was  last  summer." 

"  What  a  grateful  man  !  Oh,  I  must  go  and  hear  him. 
I  do  think  there's  nothing  like  gratitude.  By-the-bye,  I 
am  not  acting  up  to  that.  I  have  never  even  seen  your 
son  to  thank  him." 

"  Oh,  Miss  Fox,  it  is  not  fair  to  him  for  any  young  lady 
to  try  to  do  that.  He  has  no  opinion  of  anything  he  does  ; 
and  the  last  time  he  saved  a  young  lady's  life  he  ran  away 
because — because  it  wouldn't  do  to  stay.  You  see,  she 
had  been  at  the  very  point  of  drowning,  and  the  people 
on  the  bank  declared  that  she  came  up  three  times.  My 
son  Frank  never  pulled  his  coat  off — he  would  have  de- 
spised himself  if  he  had  stopped  to  do  it — he  jumped  in, 
they  said  it  was  forty  feet  high,  but  there  is  no  bank  on 
the  river  (except  the  cliff  the  church  stands  on)  much 
over  five-and-twenty.  However,  in  he  went,  and  saved 
her ;  and  everybody  said  that  she  was  worth  ten  thousand 
pounds,  but  carried  away  by  the  current.  And  from  that 
day  to  this  we  heard  nothing  more  about  it ;  and  my  son, 
who  has  a  very  beautiful  complexion,  blushes  —  oh,  he 
blushes  so,  if  he  only  hears  of  it !" 

"  Oh,  he  is  too  good,  Mrs.  Gilham  !  It  is  a  very  great 
8* 


178  PEKLYCEOSS 

mistake,  with  the  world  becoming  all  so  selfish.  But  I 
am  not  the  young  lady  that  went  with  the  current.  I  go 
against  the  current,  whenever  I  find  any.  And  your  son 
has  had  the  courage  to  do  the  same,  in  the  question  of  my 
dear  brother.  I  say  what  I  mean,  you  must  understand, 
Mrs.  Gilham.  I  am  not  at  all  fond  of  shilly-shally." 

"Neither  is  my  son,  Miss  Fox.  Only  he  thinks  so  very 
little  of  himself.  Why  there  he  is  !  Hard  at  work  as  usual. 
Don't  say  a  syllable  of  thanks,  my  dear,  if  he  comes  up 
to  pull  his  hat  off.  He  can  stand  a  cannon-ball,  but  not 
to  be  made  much  of." 

"  Won't  I,  though,  say  *  thank  you  '  to  him  ?  I  am  bound 
to  consider  myself,  and  not  only  his  peculiar  tendencies. 
Mr.  Frank  Gilham,  do  please  to  come  here,  if — I  mean 
supposing  you  can  spare  just  half  a  minute." 

Frank  had  a  fair  supply  of  hard  as  well  as  soft  in  his 
composition.  He  was  five-and-twenty  years  old,  or  close 
upon  it,  and  able  to  get  a  dog  out  of  a  trap  in  the  deep- 
est of  his  own  condition.  He  quitted  his  spade — which 
he  had  found,  by -the -bye,  left  out  all  night,  though 
the  same  is  high -treason  —  as  if  he  could  scarcely  get 
away  from  it,  and  could  see  nothing  so  fine  as  a  fat  spit 
of  sod.  And  he  kept  his  eyes  full  upon  Christie's,  as  if 
he  had  seen  her  before,  but  was  wondering  where. 

This  was  the  proper  thing  to  do.  Though  he  knew 
himself  to  be  in  no  small  fright  throughout  all  this 
bravery.  But  there  is  no  monopoly  of  humbug,  though 
many  do  their  utmost  to  establish  one. 

"  Miss  Fox,  I  believe  you  have  seen  my  son  before." 
The  old  lady  took  to  the  spirit  of  the  moment  with  the 
quickness  in  which  ladies  always  take  the  front.  "  And 
my  son  Frank  has  had  the  honour  of  seeing  you." 

"  And  feeling  me,  too — pretty  sharp  against  his  chest," 
Christie  thought  within  herself,  but  she  only  said,  "  Yes  ; 
and  it  was  a  happy  thing  for  me." 

"Not  at  all,  Miss  Fox — a  mere  casual  accident,  as  the  peo- 
ple about  here  express  it.  I  explained  to  you  that  Frank 
cannot  help  himself.  Be  kind  enough  not  to  speak  of  it." 

"That  won't  do,"  replied  Christie,  looking  steadfast. 
"  It  may  do  for  him,  but  not  for  me.  Allow  me  one  mo- 
ment, Mrs.  Gilham." 


PERCUSSION  179 

Without  more  ado  she  ran  up  to  Frank  Gilham,  who 
was  turning  away  again  towards  his  work,  and  gave  him 
both  hands,  and  looked  full  at  him,  with  the  glitter  of 
tears  in  her  deep  blue  eyes. 

"  My  senses  have  not  quite  forsaken  me,"  she  said ; 
"  and  I  know  whom  I  have  to  thank  for  that,  and  in  all 
probability  for  my  life  as  well.  It  is  useless  to  talk  about 
thanking  you,  because  it  is  impossible  to  do  it.  And  even 
before  that  I  was  deeply  in  your  debt  for  the  very  noble 
way  in  which  you  took  my  brother's  part  when  every- 
body else  was  against  him.  It  was  so  brave  and  generous 
of  you." 

It  was  more  than  she  could  do,  with  all  her  spirit,  to 
prevent  two  large  and  liberal  tears  from  obeying  the  laws 
of  nature ;  in  fact,  they  were  not  far  from  obtaining  the 
downright  encouragement  of  a  sob  when  she  thought  of 
her  poor  brother. 

"Well,  you  are  a  sweet,  simple  dear!"  exclaimed  the 
fine  old  lady,  following  suit  in  the  feminine  line,  and  feel- 
ing for  her  pocket-handkerchief.  "  Frankie  should  be 
proud  to  his  dying  day  of  doing  any  trifle  for  such 
a  precious  dear.  Why  don't  you  say  so,  Frankie,  my 
son  ?" 

"  Simply  because  my  mother  has  said  it  so  much  better 
for  me."  He  turned  away  his  eyes,  in  fear  of  looking 
thus  at  Christie,  lest  they  should  tell  her  there  was  no  one 
else  in  the  world  for  them  to  see. 

"  Here  comes  the  *  Defiance !'  Hurrah !  hurrah  !"  shouted 
Rose,  rushing  in,  for  once  just  at  the  right  moment.  "  I 
can  hear  the  horses'  hoofs  springing  up  the  rise.  If  you 
want  to  know  anything  about  roast  beef  you  must  put  on 
a  spurt  up  the  periwinkle  walk.  Here  goes  number  one. 
Slow  coaches  come  behind." 

"  I  am  not  a  slow  coach.  At  least,  I  never  used  to  be," 
cried  Christie,  setting  off  in  chase. 

"  Miss  Fox,  Miss  Fox,  don't  attempt  to  cross  the  brook 
without  my  son's  hand,"  Mrs.  Gilham  called  after  them ; 
for  she  could  not  live  the  pace.  "  Oh,  Rose  is  wrong  as 
usual — it's  *  To  glory  we  steer '  this  time." 

The  obliging  guard  gave  it  three  times  over,  as  if  he 
had  this  team  also  in  full  view ;  then  he  gave  the  "  Roast 


1 80  PERLYCROSS 

beef,"  as  the  substance  of  the  glory  ;  and,  really,  it  was 
finer  than  a  locomotive  screech. 

Presently  Rose  heard  the  cackle  of  a  pullet  which 
had  laid,  and  off  she  ran  to  make  sure  of  the  result,  be- 
cause there  was  an  old  cock  sadly  addicted  to  the  part 
that  is  least  golden  in  the  policy  of  Saturn.  So  the  three 
who  remained  sat  upon  the  bench  and  talked,  with  the 
cider-apples  piled  in  pink  and  yellow  cones  before  them, 
and  the  mossy  branches  sparkling  (like  a  weeping  smile) 
above,  and  the  sun  glancing  shyly  under  eaves  and  along 
hedge-rows,  like  the  man  denied  the  privilege  of  looking 
at  the  horse.  By  this  light,  however,  Frank  Gilham  con- 
trived to  get  many  a  peep  round  his  mother's  bonnet — 
which,  being  of  the  latest  fashion,  was  bigger  than  a  well- 
kept  hedge-row — at  a  very  lovely  object  on  the  other  side 
thereof,  which  had  no  fear  as  yet  of  being  stolen. 

Miss  Fox  had  fully  made  up  her  mind  that  (happen  what 
might)  she  would  not  say  a  single  word  to  sadden  her 
good  hostess  with  the  trouble  her  brother  had  fallen  into, 
or  the  difficulties  now  surrounding  him.  But  ladies  are 
allowed  to  unmake  their  minds,  especially  if  it  enlarges 
them  ;  and  finding  in  the  recesses  of  that  long  bonnet  a 
most  sympathetic  pair  of  ears,  all  the  softer  for  being 
"  rather  hard  of  hearing,"  and  enriched  with  wise  echoes 
of  threescore  years,  she  also  discovered  how  wrong  and 
unkind  it  would  be  to  withhold  any  heart -matter  from 
them. 

"  And  one  of  the  most  dreadful  things  of  all,"  Christie 
concluded,  with  a  long-drawn  sigh,  "is  that  my  dear 
father,  who  has  only  this  son  Jemmy,  is  now  in  such  a 
very  sad  state  of  health  that  if  he  heard  of  this  it  would 
most  likely  take  him  from  us.  Or  if  he  got  over  it,  one 
thing  is  certain,  he  would  never  even  look  at  my  brother 
again.  Not  that  he  would  believe  such  a  wicked  thing  of 
him,  but  because  he  would  declare  that  he  brought  it  on 
himself  by  going  (against  his  father's  wishes)  into  this 
medical  business.  My  father  detests  it ;  I  scarcely  know 
why,  but  have  heard  that  he  has  good  reason.  We  must 
keep  this  from  him,  whatever  it  costs  us  ;  even  if  it  keeps 
poor  Jemmy  under  this  cloud  for  months  to  come.  Luck- 
ily father  cannot  read  now  very  well,  and  his  doctor  has 


PERCUSSION  181 

ordered  him  not  to  read  at  all ;  and  mother  never  looks  at 
a  newspaper;  and  the  place  being  five -and -thirty  miles 
away,  and  in  another  county,  there  is  no  great  risk,  unless 
some  spiteful  friend  should  rush  in  to  condole  with  him. 
That  is  what  I  dread  to  hear  of  sometimes ;  though  good 
Dr.  Freeborn,  who  attends  him,  will  prevent  any  chance 
of  it  if  possible.  But  you  see,  Mrs.  Gilham,  how  it  crip- 
ples us.  We  cannot  move  boldly  and  freely,  as  we  ought, 
and  make  the  thing  the  topic  of  the  county,  as  we  should 
by  an  action  of  libel  for  instance,  or  any  strong  mode  of 
vindication.  I  assure  you  sometimes  I  am  ready  to  go 
wild,  and  fly  out  and  do  anything.  And  then  I  recollect 
poor  father." 

"  It  is  a  cruel,  cruel  thing,  my  dear.  I  never  heard  of 
anything  resembling  it  before.  That's  the  very  thing  that 
Frank  says.  From  the  very  first  he  saw  what  a  shameful 
thing  it  was  to  speak  so  of  Dr.  Fox.  I  believe  he  has 
knocked  down  a  big  man  or  two ;  though  I  am  sure  I 
should  be  the  last  to  encourage  him  in  that." 

"  Come,  mother,  come  !  Miss  Fox,  you  must  not  listen 
to  a  quarter  of  what  mother  says  about  me.  I  dare  say 
you  have  found  that  out  long  ago." 

"  If  so,  it  is  only  natural,  and  you  deserve  it ;"  this 
Hibernian  verdict  was  delivered  with  a  smile  too  bright  to 
be  eclipsed  by  a  score  of  hedge-row  bonnets ;  "  but  there 
is  one  thing  I  should  like  to  ask  Mr.  Frank  Gilham,  with 
his  mother's  leave,  and  it  is  this :  how  was  it  that  you,  Mr. 
Frank,  almost  alone  of  all  the  parish  qf  Perly cross,  and 
without  knowing  much  of  my  brother  at  the  time,  were  so 
certain  of  his  innocence  ?" 

"Because  I  had  looked  in  his  face,"  replied  Frank, 
looking  likewise  into  the  sister's  face,  with  a  gaze  of  equal 
certainty. 

"That  is  very  noble,"  Christie  said,  with  a  little  toss 
meaning  something.  "  But  most  people  want  more  to  go 
upon  than  that." 


CHAPTER    XX 

DISCUSSION 


Now  Mrs.  Fox,  Dr.  Jemmy's  mother,  was  an  enthusi- 
astic woman.  She  was  twenty  years  younger  than  her 
husband,  and  felt  herself  fifty  years  his  senior  (when 
genuine  wisdom  was  needed),  and  yet  in  enterprise  fifty 
years  junior.  The  velocity  of  her  brain  had  been  too 
much  for  the  roots  of  her  hair,  as  she  herself  maintained, 
and  her  best  friends  could  not  deny  it.  Except  that  the 
top  of  her  head  was  snow-white,  and  she  utterly  scorned 
to  disguise  it,  she  looked  little  older  than  her  daughter 
Christie  in  some  ways,  though  happily  tougher.  She  was 
not  too  fat,  and  she  was  not  too  thin ;  which  is  more 
than  most  people  can  tell  themselves  at  the  age  of  eight 
and  forty.  Into  this  ancient  county  race,  which  had 
strengthened  its  roots  by  banking,  she  had  brought  a  fine 
vein  of  Devonian  blood,  very  clearing  for  their  complex- 
ions. She  had  shown  some  disdain  for  mercantile  views 
until  she  began  to  know  better,  when  her  father,  and  others 
of  her  landed  lineage,  slipped  down  the  hill-top  into  bank- 
ruptcy, without  any  free-trade,  or  even  tenants'  superior 
rights,  to  excuse  them.  Then  she  perceived  that  mercantile 
views  are  the  only  ones  left  to  insure  a  quiet  man  a  fair 
prospect  from  his  own  front  windows.  She  encouraged 
her  husband  to  cherish  the  bank,  which  at  one  time  she 
had  derided ;  and  she  quite  agreed  with  him  that  no  ad- 
vances could  save  her  own  relations  in  their  march  down- 
hill. 

The  elder  James  Fox,  who,  like  his  father,  had  refused 
a  title  —  for  although  they  were  not  Quakers  now,  they 
held  to  their  old  simplicity — Mr.  James  Fox,  of  Foxden, 
was  a  fine  sample  of  the  unmixed  Englishman.  He  had 
never  owed  a  penny  of  his  large  fortune  to  any  unworthy 


DISCUSSION  183 

trick  of  trade,  or  even  to  lucky  gambling  in  stocks,  or 
bitter  mortgages.  Many  people  called  him  stubborn,  and 
they  were  welcome  to  take  that  view  of  it.  In  business 
that  opinion  served  him  well,  and  saved  a  lot  of  useless 
trouble.  But  he  himself  knew  well,  and  his  wife  knew 
even  better,  that  though  he  would  never  budge  an  inch 
for  claim,  or  threat,  or  lawsuit,  there  was  no  man  who 
gave  a  longer  ell  when  drawn  out  by  mercy,  or  even  gen- 
tle equity. 

But  in  the  full  vigour  of  his  faculties,  mental  if  not 
bodily — and  the  latter  had  not  yet  failed  him  much — that 
mysterious  blow  descended  which  no  human  science  can 
avert,  relieve,  or  even  to  its  own  content  explain.  One 
moment  he  was  robust  and  active,  quick  with  the  pulse  of 
busy  life,  strong  with  the  powers  of  insight,  foresight,  dis- 
crimination, promptitude — another  moment,  and  all  was 
gone.  Only  a  numb  lump  remained,  livid,  pallid,  deaf  and 
dumb,  sightless,  breathless  (beyond  a  wheezy  snore),  in- 
capable even  of  a  dream  or  moan.  And  knowing  all  these 
things,  men  are  proud  ! 

His  strong  heart  and  firm  brain  bore  him  through,  or, 
rather,  they  gradually  shored  him  up — a  fabric  still  upon 
the  sands  of  time,  but  waiting  only  for  the  next  tidal  wave. 

Now  the  greatest  physician,  or  metaphysician,  that  ever 
came  into  the  world  can  tell  us  no  more  than  an  embryo 
could  what  the  relics  of  the  mind  will  be  in  such  a  case, 
or  how  far  in  keeping  with  its  former  self.  Thoroughly 
pious  men  have  turned  blasphemers ;  very  hard  swearers 
have  taken  to  sweet  hymns ;  tempers  have  been  changed 
from  diabolical  to  angelic ;  but  the  change  more  often  has 
been  the  other  way.  Happily  for  himself  and  all  about 
him,  this  fine  old  man  was  weakened  only,  and  not  per- 
verted from  his  former  healthful  self.  His  memory  was 
deranged,  in  veins  and  fibres,  like  an  ostrich-plume  draggled 
in  a  gale  of  wind  and  rain ;  but  he  knew  his  old  friends, 
and  the  favoured  of  his  heart,  and  before  and  above  all 
his  faithful  wife.  He  had  fallen  from  his  pride  with  the 
lapse  of  other  powers ;  and  to  those  who  had  known  him 
in  his  stronger  days  his  present  gentleness  was  touching, 
and  his  gratitude  for  trifles  affecting  ;  but  notwithstanding 
that,  he  was  sometimes  more  obstinate  than  ever. 


184  PEELYCKOSS 

"  I  wonder  why  Chris  stays  away  so  long,"  he  said,  as 
he  sat  one  fine  day  upon  the  terrace,  for  he  was  ordered 
to  stay  out-of-doors  as  much  as  possible,  and  his  wife  as 
usual  sat  beside  him.  "  She  is  gone  to  nurse  Jemmy 
through  a  very  heavy  cold,  as  I  understood  you  to  say,  my 
dear.  But  my  memory  is  not  always  quite  clear  now. 
But  it  must  be  some  days  since  I  heard  that ;  and  I  miss 
little  Chrissy  with  her  cheerful  face.  You  are  enough,  of 
course,  my  dear  Mary,  and  I  very  seldom  think  much  of 
anybody  else.  Still,  I  long  sometimes  to  see  my  little 
Chrissy." 

"  To  be  sure  ;  and  so  do  I.  The  house  seems  very  sad 
without  her,"  replied  Mrs.  Fox,  as  if  it  could  be  merry 
now.  "  We  won't  give  her  more  than  another  day  or  two. 
But  we  must  remember,  dear,  how  differently  poor  Jemmy 
is  placed  from  what  we  are  in  this  comfortable  house. 
Only  one  old  rough  Devonshire  servant ;  and  everybody 
knows  what  they  are — a  woman  who  would  warm  his  bed, 
as  likely  as  not,  with  a  frying-pan,  and  make  his  tea  out 
of  the  rain-water  boiler." 

"  He  has  no  one  to  thank  for  it  but  himself." 

After  this  delivery  the  father  of  the  family  shut  his 
mouth,  which  he  still  could  do  as  well  as  ever,  though  one 
of  his  arms  hung  helpless. 

"  And  I  did  hear  that  there  was  some  disturbance  there, 
something,  I  think,  about  the  clergyman,  who  is  a  great 
friend  of  Jemmy's."  Mrs.  Fox  spoke  this  in  all  good 
faith,  for  Dr.  Freeborn  had  put  this  turn  upon  a  story 
which  had  found  its  way  into  the  house  ;  "  and  you  know 
what  our  Chris  is  when  she  thinks  any  one  attacks  the 
Church;  you  may  trust  her  for  flying  to  the  rescue — at 
any  rate,  so  far  as  money  goes." 

"And  money  goes  a  long  way,  in  matters  eccles — you 
know  what  I  mean — I  can't  pronounce  those  long  words 
now.  Christie  is  too  generous  with  her  good  aunt's 
money.  The  trustees  let  her  have  it  much  too  freely.  I 
should  not  be  much  surprised  if  they  get  a  hundred 
pounds  out  of  Chris,  at  —  let  me  see,  what  is  the  place 
called — something  like  a  brooch  or  trinket.  Ah,  there,  it's 
gone  again  !" 

u  You  must  not  talk  so  much,  my  dear ;  and,  above  all, 


DISCUSSION  185 

you  must  not  try  your  memory.  It  is  wonderfully  good, 
I  am  sure,  thank  God !  1  only  wish  mine  was  half  as 
good." 

Now  Mrs.  Fox  was  quite  aware  that  she  had  an  exceed- 
ingly fine  memory. 

"  Well,  never  mind,"  resumed  the  invalid,  after  roving 
among  all  the  jewels  he  could  think  of.  "  But  I  should 
be  very  glad,  before  I  die,  to  see  Chrissy  married  to  Sir 
Henry  Haggerstone,  a  man  of  the  highest  character,  as 
well  as  a  very  fine  estate.  Has  he  said  anything  to  you 
about  it  lately  ?" 

"  No,  father  " — Mrs.  Fox  always  called  him  "  father  " 
when  a  family  council  was  toward — "  how  could  he  while 
you — I  mean  why  should  he  be  in  such  a  hurry  ?  Christie 
is  a  girl  who  would  only  turn  against  him  if  he  were  to 
worry  her.  She  is  a  very  odd  child  ;  she  is  not  like  her 
mother ;  a  little  spice  of  somebody  else,  I  think,  who  has 
always  contrived  to  have  his  own  way  ;  and  she  hates  the 
idea  of  being  a  step-mother,  though  there  are  only  two 
little  girls  after  all,  and  Chrissy 's  son  would  be  the  heir 
of  course.  She  says  it  is  so  frightfully  unromantic  to 
marry  a  wealthy  widower.  But  talk  of  the — I  am  sure  I 
beg  his  pardon — but  here  comes  Sir  Henry  himself,  with 
Dr.  Freeborn.  You  had  better  see  the  doctor  first,  my 
dear,  while  I  take  a  turn  with  Sir  Henry." 

This  gentleman  was,  as  Mr.  Fox  had  pronounced,  of  the 
very  highest  character,  wealthy,  moreover,  and  of  pleasant 
aspect,  and  temper  mild  and  equable  ;  neither  was  his  age 
yet  gone  fatally  amiss,  though  a  few  years  off  would  have 
improved  it,  as  concerning  Christie  ;  for  he  was  not  more 
than  thirty-three  or  thirty-four,  and  scarcely  looked  that, 
for  he  led  a  healthful  life.  But  his  great  fault  was  that 
he  had  no  great  fault ;  nothing  extreme  in  any  way  about 
him,  not  even  contempt  for  "  extreme  people."  He  had 
been  at  Oxford,  and  had  learned,  by  reading  for  a  first- 
class  in  classics  (which  he  got)  that  victue  is  a  "  habit  of 
fore-choice,  being  in  the  mean  that  concerns  ourselves, 
defined  by  reason,  and  according  as  the  man  of  perception 
would  define  it." 

Sir  Henry  was  a  man  of  very  clear  perception,  and  his 
nature  was  well  fitted  to  come  into  definitions.  He  never 


186  PERLYCKOSS 

did  much  thinking  of  his  own,  for  deeper  minds  had 
saved  him  all  that  trouble,  and  he  was  quite  content  to 
accept  the  results.  There  was  nobody  who  could  lead 
him  much,  and  no  one  who  could  not  lead  him  a  little, 
when  he  saw  a  clear  path  to  go  along.  This  was  not  al- 
together the  way  to  enchant  romantic  maidenhood. 

Christie  cared  for  him  about  as  much  as  she  would  for 
a  habit,  that  was  in  a  mean.  Not  that  he  was  in  any  way 
a  prig,  or  laid  down  the  law  to  any  one.  He  had  not 
kept  up  his  classics,  for  he  had  no  real  love  for  them  ; 
and  in  those  days  a  man  might  get  a  first  at  Oxford  who 
could  scarcely  scan  a  Latin  hexameter,  if  he  were  excep- 
tionally strong  in  "  science  " — then  meaning  philosophy, 
before  the  age  of  "  stinks."  To  none  of  these  subjects 
did  Christie  pay  heed — she  did  not  care  for  the  man,  and 
that  was  all  about  it. 

"  You  are  quite  right,  Mrs.  Fox ;  I  think  exactly  as  you 
do,"  this  gentleman  was  replying  to  the  lady  of  the  house, 
as  they  walked  upon  the  gentle  slope  towards  the  flower- 
garden  ;  "  there  are  no  real  Whigs  in  the  present  head- 
long days.  Men  like  your  husband  and  myself,  who  have 
fancied  ourselves  in  the  happy  mean,  are  either  swept 
aside  or  carried  down  the  deluge.  For  the  moment  there 
seems  to  be  a  slight  reaction  ;  but  it  will  not  last ;  the 
rush  will  only  be  more  headlong.  And  in  private  life  it 
is  just  the  same.  Individual  rights  are  to  be  no  more 
respected  ;  everything  belongs  to  everybody.  I  will  tell 
you  a  little  thing  that  happened  to  myself,  just  as  a  spec- 
imen of  the  spirit  of  the  age.  A  year  or  two  ago  I 
bought  some  old  manorial  rights  in  a  thinly  peopled  part 
of  Devonshire ;  in  fact,  at  the  western  end  of  the  great 
Blackdown  Range,  a  barren,  furzy,  flinty  sort  of  place. 
By -the -bye,  not  many  miles  away  from  the  place  where 
your  son  has  gone  to  live — Perlycross.  I  only  bought  the 
manor  to  oblige  a  friend  who  wanted  a  little  ready  money, 
and  to  go  there  now  and  then,  perhaps,  for  a  little  rough 
shooting,  for  the  country  is  beautiful,  and  the  air  very 
fine.  Well,  the  manorial  rights  included  some  quarries 
or  pits  or  excavations  of  some  sort,  where  those  rough 
scythe-stones  are  dug,  such  as  you  see  lying  on  that  lawn. 
The  land  itself  was  actually  part  of  the  manor  from  a 


DISCUSSION  187 

time  beyond  memory  or  record ;  but  it  seems  as  if  stran- 
gers had  been  allowed  to  settle  on  the  hill-side  and  work 
these  ancient  quarries,  and  sell  the  produce  on  their  own 
account ;  only  paying  a  small  royalty  to  the  manor  every 
Martinmas,  or  about  that  time,  not  so  much  for  the  value 
of  the  money — though  it  would  perhaps  be  considerable 
under  a  proper  computation — but  as  an  acknowledgment  of 
the  ownership  of  the  manor.  But  I  fear  I  am  tiring  you." 

"  Not  at  all,  Sir  Henry ;  I  like  any  story  of  that  sort. 
Our  laws  are  so  very,  very  queer." 

"Sometimes  they  are.  Well,  my  friend  had  not  de- 
ceived me.  He  said  that  this  Whetstone  money  was  very 
hard  to  get,  and  was  so  trifling  that  he  had  let  it  go  some- 
times when  the  people  objected  to  paying  it,  as  they  did 
after  any  bad  season.  Last  Martinmas  the  matter  slipped 
my  memory,  through  domestic  trouble ;  but  this  year,  as 
the  day  approached,  I  sent  orders  to  a  man — a  rough  sort 
of  game-keeper,  who  lives  near  there  and  looks  after  the 
shooting  and  gravel  and  peat — to  give  notice  at  the  pits 
that  1  meant  to  have  my  money.  A  very  close  corpora- 
tion they  seem  to  have  established,  and  have  made  their 
encroachments  uncommonly  secure,  being  quite  distinct 
in  race  and  character,  dialect,  and  even  dress,  I  believe, 
from  the  settled  people  round  them.  Now,  what  message 
do  you  think  they  sent  me  ?" 

"  Something  very  insolent,  I  have  no  doubt."  Mrs.  Fox 
did  not  call  herself  even  a  Whig,  but  a  downright  deter- 
mined Tory. 

"  This  was  it — my  man  got  the  school-master  to  put  it 
into  writing,  and  I  happen  to  have  it  in  my  pocket.  *  Not 
a  penny  will  we  pay  this  year ;  but  if  you  like  to  come 
yourself  and  take  a  turn  at  the  flemmer' — something  they 
use  for  getting  out  the  stone — *  we  won't  charge  you  any- 
thing for  your  footing.'  " 

"  Your  footing  on  your  own  land  !  Well,  that  is  very 
fine.  What  do  you  mean  to  do,  Sir  Henry  ?" 

"Grin  and  bear  it,  I  suppose,  Mrs.  Fox.  You  know 
what  the  tendency  of  the  time  is,  even  in  the  law-courts ; 
and,  of  course,  all  the  press  would  be  down  upon  me 
as  a  monster  of  oppression  if  I  ventured  to  assert  my 
rights.  And  though  I  am  out  of  the  House  ever  since  the 


188  PEKLYOROSS 

*  Broom  of  Reform ' — as  the  papers  call  it — swept  my  two 
little  seats  away,  I  might  like  to  stand  again  some  day  ; 
and  what  a  Whetstone  this  would  be  for  my  adversaries  ! 
And  I  hear  that  these  people  are  not  a  bad  lot ;  rough 
and  uncivilized,  and  wonderfully  jealous  over  the  '  rights ' 
they  have  robbed  me  of ;  but  among  themselves  faithful 
and  honest  and  quiet  and  sober,  which  is  the  strangest 
thing  of  all  in  England.  As  for  their  message,  why  they 
speak  out  plainly,  and  look  upon  their  offer  as  a  great 
concession  to  me.  And  we  in  this  more  enlightened  part 
must  allow  for  the  manners  of  that  neighbourhood.  In 
fact,  this  is  such  a  perfect  trifle,  after  what  they  have 
been  doing  at  Perlycross.  If  I  were  a  magistrate  about 
there — " 

"  At  Perlycross  !  What  do  you  mean  ?  Some  little 
matter  about  the  clergyman  ?  I  want  to  know  all  about 
that,  Sir  Henry.  It  seems  so  strange  that  Christie  never 
mentioned  it." 

Sir  Henry  perceived  that  he  had  "  put  his  foot  in  it." 
Dr.  Freeborn  had  warned  him  that  the  "  Sacrilege  in 
Devon  " — as  the  Somerset  papers  had  begun  to  call  it — 
must  be  kept  most  carefully  from  the  knowledge  of  his 
patient,  and  from  that  of  the  lady  also,  for  there  was  no 
saying  how  she  might  take  it.  And  now  Mrs.  Fox  could 
not  fail  to  find  out  everything.  He  was  ready  to  bite  off 
his  tongue,  as  ladies  put  it. 

"Oh,  ah — I  was  thinking  of  something  —  which  had 
better  not  be  referred  to  perhaps  ;  not  quite  fit  to  be  dis- 
cussed when  one  has  the  honour  of  being  with  ladies. 
But  about  those  very  extraordinary  people.  I  have  heard 
some  things  that  are  highly  interesting,  things  that  I  am 
certain  you  would  like  to  hear — " 

"  Not  half  so  much  as  I  want  to  hear  the  story  about 
the  parish  where  my  son  lives,  and  my  daughter  is  staying 
and  will  not  come  back — for  some  reason  which  we  cannot 
make  out.  I  must  insist,  Sir  Henry,  upon  hearing  all  that 
you  know.  I  am  not  a  young  woman,  and  know  the  world 
pretty  well  by  this  time.  You  will  not  offend  me  by  any- 
thing you  say,  but  you  will  by  anything  you  hide." 

Sir  Henry  Haggerstone  looked  about,  and  saw  that  he 
was  in  for  it.  The  elderly  lady  —  as  some  might  call  her 


DISCUSSION  189 

— looked  at  him  with  that  pretty  doubt  which  ladies  so 
thoroughly  understand  how  to  show,  and  intend  to  be  un- 
derstood without  expression.  The  gentleman  glanced  at 
her ;  he  had  no  mustache  to  stroke,  for  only  cavalry 
officers  and  cads  of  the  most  pretentious  upturn  as  yet 
wore  ginger  hackles — a  relief  still  to  come  in  a  downier  age. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Fox,  there  is  nothing  improper,  from  a 
lady's  point  of  view,  I  mean,  in  the  very  sad  occurrence  at 
Perlycross.  It  is  a  question  for  the  local  authorities, 
and  not  one  for  me  to  meddle  with." 

"  Then  why  did  you  speak  of  it  ?  Either  tell  me  all,  or  say 
that  you  won't,  and  leave  me  to  find  out."  The  lady  had 
the  gentleman,  the  Tory  had  the  temporizer,  on  the  nail. 

"  We  are  nothing  in  your  hands,"  he  murmured,  and 
with  perfect  truth ;  for  when  the  question  comes  to  the 
pulling  out  of  truth,  what  chance  has  a  man  against  a 
clever  woman,  ten  times  as  quick  as  he  is,  and  piercing 
every  glance? 

"  I  am  truly  sorry  that  it  has  come  to  this" —  Mrs.  Fox 
did  not  sympathize  with  his  regret,  but  nodded,  as  if  to 
say,  "no  cure  now  for  that;  for  my  part  I  am  rather 
glad."  "  It  was  simply  through  terror  of  distressing  you 
that  all  your  best  friends  have  combined,  as  I  may  say,  at 
least  have  thought  it  wiser — " 

"  Then  they  made  a  great  mistake ;  and  I  am  not  at 
all  thankful  to  any  of  them.  Let  me  sit  down  here.  And 
now  for  all  this  frightful  wonder  !  Is  Jemmy  dead  ?  Let 
me  have  the  worst  at  once." 

This  was  a  sudden  relief  to  Sir  Henry,  enabling  him  to 
offer  immediate  comfort,  and  to  whisper,  "  How  could  you 
imagine  such  a  thing  ?" 

"  No,  my  dear  madam,"  he  continued,  having  now  the 
upperhand,  and  hers  beneath  it,  "  I  have  the  pleasure  of 
assuring  you  that  your  noble  son  is  in  the  very  best  of 
health,  and  improving  by  his  admirable  knowledge  of 
medicine  the  health  of  all  around  him.  It  is  acknowl- 
edged that  he  has  advanced  the  highest  interests  of  the 
profession." 

"  That  he  was  sure  to  do,  Sir  Henry.  And  he  has  a 
copy  of  my  dear  grandmother's  recipe  for  the  pounded 
cherry-stone  elixir." 


190  PEELYCKOSS 

"  With  all  the  resources  of  modern  science  added,  and 
his  own  trained  insight  in  their  application.  But  the  worst 
of  it  is  that  these  leading  intellects,  as  you  must  have  ex- 
perienced long  ago,  can  never  escape  a  sad  amount  of 
narrow  professional  jealousy.  Your  son  must  have  fallen 
among  those  heavy-witted  Devonshire  doctors  like  a  thun- 
der-bolt— or  worse,  a  phenomenon  come  to  heal  their  pa- 
tients gratis" 

"  That  would  drive  them  to  do  anything  —  to  poison 
him,  if  they  had  the  courage.  For  every  one  knows  how 
they  run  up  their  bills." 

Having  brought  the  lady  thus  to  the  practical  vein,  Sir 
Henry  (as  gently  as  possible,  and  as  it  were  by  the  quarter- 
drachm)  administered  the  sombre  draught  he  was  now 
bound  to  exhibit.  Jemmy's  dear  mother  took  it  with  a 
closeness  of  attention  and  critical  appreciation  seldom 
found  in  the  physical  recipients  in  such  cases.  But  to  the 
administrator's  great  surprise,  her  indignation  was  by  no 
means  vivid  in  the  direction  anticipated. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  that  I  know  this  at  last.  I  ought 
to  have  been  told  of  it  long  ago,"  said  Mrs.  Fox,  looking 
resolutely  at  Sir  Henry  Haggerstone.  "  A  very  great  mis- 
take and  want  of  judgment  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Freeborn. 
What  a  frightful  risk  to  run — supposing  my  husband  had 
been  told  suddenly  of  this !" 

"  All  has  been  done  for  the  best,  my  dear  madam.  The 
great  anxiety  was  to  keep  it  from  him." 

"And  who  was  the  proper  one  to  see  to  that?  I  should 
have  thought  his  wife  and  constant  nurse.  Was  it  thought 
impossible  that  I  should  show  discretion?  Clever  men 
always  make  one  great  mistake.  They  believe  that  no 
woman  can  command  her  tongue.  If  they  had  their  own 
only  half  as  well  controlled  there  would  not  be  a  tenth  part 
of  the  mischief  in  the  world." 

"  You  are  quite  right  there.  That  is  a  very  great  truth, 
and  exceedingly  well  expressed,"  replied  Sir  Henry,  not 
that  he  was  impressed  with  it  so  deeply,  but  that  he 
wanted  to  appease  the  lady.  "However,  as  regards  Dr. 
Freeborn's  ideas  I  really  know  very  little ;  no  doubt  he 
thought  it  was  for  your  own  good,  too,  not  to  be  burdened 
at  such  a  time  with  another  great  anxiety." 


DISCUSSION  191 

"  He  has  taken  too  much  upon  himself.  It  would  have 
been  no  great  anxiety  to  me.  My  son  is  quite  capable  of 
fighting  his  own  battles.  And  the  same  orders  issued  to 
my  son  and  daughter !  At  last  I  can  understand  poor 
Christie's  letters  —  why  she  has  been  so  brief,  for  fear  of 
losing  all  self-control,  like  her  mother.  Stupid,  stupid, 
clever  men  !  Why,  there  is  infinitely  less  chance  now  of 
Mr.  Fox  ever  knowing  it.  You  may  tell  our  sapient  doc- 
tor that.  Perhaps  I  shall  astonish  him  a  little.  I'll  prove 
to  him  that  I  can  control  my  tongue  by  never  mentioning 
the  subject  to  him." 

"  Excuse  me,  Mrs.  Fox,  if  I  make  one  or  two  remarks. 
May  I  speak  without  reserve,  as  an  old  friend  of  the  fam- 
ily, and  one  who  has  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  criminal 
— at  least,  I  mean  to  say,  with  public  proceedings  in  this 
county  ?" 

"  To  be  sure,  Sir  Henry ;  I  shall  be  much  obliged  by 
any  suggestions  you  may  make." 

"  In  the  first  place,  then,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  leave 
your  son  under  this  imputation.  I  can  quite  understand 
how  he  has  been  impeded  in  taking  any  steps  for  his  own 
vindication,  by  his  sense  of  duty  towards  his  father  and 
yourself.  In  that  respect,  his  behaviour  has  been  most 
admirable.  He  has  absolutely  done  nothing;  not  even 
protested  publicly,  and  challenged  any  evidence  against 
him,  but  been  quite  content  to  lie  at  the  mercy  of  any 
wicked  slanderers.  And  for  this  there  can  be  no  reason 
but  one — that  public  proceedings  would  increase  the  stir, 
and  make  it  certain  that  the  whole  must  come  to  his  father's 
knowledge." 

"  To  be  sure,  Sir  Henry.  There  can  be  no  other  reason." 
The  old  friend  of  the  family  was  surprised  at  the  tone  in 
which  Mrs.  Fox  uttered  this  opinion. 

"  Of  course  not.  And  so  it  is  all  the  more  incumbent 
upon  his  family  to  clear  him.  Let  me  tell  you  what  I 
should  do,  if  I  were  his  father,  in  sound  health,  and  able 
to  attend  to  business.  Of  course  I  am  too  young  to  speak 
so  "  —  he  had  suddenly  remembered  Christie  —  "  but  that 
you  understand ;  and  you  also  admit  that  I  am  not  likely 
to  offer  advice  unless  asked  for." 

"  I  beg  you  particularly  to  give  it.    You  are  a  magis- 


192  PEELYCEOSS 

trate  of  large,  if  not  long,  experience.  And  I  know  that 
you  are  our  true  friend." 

"  That  you  may  rely  upon,  Mrs.  Fox,  And  you  know 
now  much  I  admire  your  son ;  for  enthusiasm  is  a  rare 
gift  now,  and  becoming  rarer  every  year  in  these  days  of 
liberal  sentiment.  If  the  case  were  my  own,  I  should  just 
do  this.  I  should  make  application  at  once  to  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench  to  have  the  matter  sifted.  It  is  no  use  shilly- 
shallying with  any  county  authorities.  A  special  commis- 
sion has  been  granted  in  cases  less  important.  But  without 
pressing  for  that,  it  is  possible  to  get  the  whole  question 
investigated  by  skilled  officers  from  headquarters.  Those 
who  bring  the  charge  should  have  done  it,  and  probably 
would  have  done  it,  if  they  had  faith  in  their  own  case. 
But  they  are  playing  a  deeper  game — according,  at  least, 
to  my  view  of  the  matter.  They  have  laid  themselves 
open  to  no  action.  Your  son  lies  helpless,  and  must  '  live 
it  down,'  as  people  say  glibly,  who  have  never  had  to  do 
it.  Is  this  a  thing  you  mean  to  allow?" 

"  You  need  scarcely  ask  me  that,  Sir  Henry.  But  re- 
member that  I  know  nothing  of  the  particulars  which  have 
been  kept  so — so  amiably  from  my  knowledge." 

"  Yes ;  but  I  know  them  all — at  least  so  far  as  they 
can  be  gathered  from  the  Devonshire  journals,  and  these 
are  very  careful  what  they  say.  In  spite  of  all  the  ene- 
mies who  want  to  keep  it  going,  the  whole  thing  may  be 
brought  to  a  point  at  once  by  applying  for  a  warrant  in 
the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  with  the  proper  informa- 
tion sworn.  They  would  grant  it  at  once.  Your  son 
would  appear,  and  be  released  of  course  on  bail,  for  the 
case  is  only  one  of  misdemeanour.  Then  the  proper 
officers  would  be  sent  down,  and  the  real  criminals  de- 
tected." 

"  A  warrant  against  my  Jemmy  !  Oh,  Sir  Henry,  you 
can  never  mean  that." 

"  Simply  as  a  matter  of  form,  Mrs.  Fox.  Ask  your  so- 
licitors. They  are  the  proper  people.  And  they  should 
have  been  consulted  long  ago,  and  would  have  been,  but 
for  this  terrible  disadvantage.  I  only  suggest  the  quick- 
est way  to  bring  the  matter  to  an  issue.  Otherwise  the 
doubt  will  hang  over  your  son,  with  his  friends  and  his 


DISCUSSION  193 

conscience  to  support  him.     And  what  are  these  among 
so  many  ?" 

This  was  not  altogether  a  counsel  of  perfection,  or  even 
of  a  very  lofty  view ;  but,  unhappily,  we  have  to  contend 
with  a  world  neither  perfect  nor  very  lofty.  There  was 
no  other  hole  to  be  found  in  the  plan,  or  even  to  be  picked 
by  the  ingenuity  of  a  lady.  But  who,  that  is  worthy  of 
that  name,  cannot  slip  round  the  corner  gracefully,  what- 
ever is  presented  ? 

"  I  thank  you  so  deeply,  Sir  Henry,  for  your  very  kind 
interest  in  this  strange  matter,"  said.  Mrs.  Fox,  looking  all 
gratitude,  with  a  smile  that  shone  through  tears,  "  and  for 
your  perfectly  invaluable  advice.  You  see  everything  so 
distinctly,  and  your  experience  is  so  precious.  To  think 
of  my  poor  boy  in  such  a  position !  Oh  dear,  oh  dear  ! 
I  really  have  not  the  courage  to  discuss  it  any  more.  But 
a  kind  heart  like  yours  will  make  every  allowance  for  the 
feelings  of  a  mother." 

Thus  was  Sir  Henry  neatly  driven  from  the  hall  of  coun- 
cil to  the  carpeted  chamber  of  comfort.  But  he  knew,  as 
well  as  if  the  lady  had  put  it  into  so  many  words,  that  she 
meant  to  accept  none  of  his  advice.  Her  reason,  however, 
for  so  resolving  was  far  beyond  his  perception,  simple  as 
it  was  and  natural. 

Mrs.  Fox  had  known  little  of  the  young  doctor's  doings, 
since  he  had  settled  at  Perlycross,  having  never  even  paid 
him  a  visit  there,  for  her  husband  was  sore  upon  that  sub- 
ject. So  that  she  was  not  acquainted  with  the  depth  of 
Jemmy's  regard  for  Sir  Thomas,  and  had  never  dreamed 
of  his  love  for  Inez ;  whereas  she  was  strongly  and  bitter- 
ly impressed  with  his  life-long  ardour  for  medical  research. 
The  mother  felt  no  indignant  yearning  for  prompt  and 
skilled  inquiry,  because  she  suspected  in  the  bottom  of 
her  heart  that  it  would  prove  her  son  the  criminal. 
9 


CHAPTER    XXI 
BLACKMARSH 

A  LONG  way  back  among  the  Blackdown  Hills,  and  in 
nobody  knows  what  parish,  the  land  breaks  off  into  a  bar- 
ren stretch,  uncouth,  dark,  and  desolate.  Being  neither 
hill  nor  valley,  slope  nor  plain,  morass  nor  woodland,  it  has 
no  lesson  for  the  wanderer  except  that  the  sooner  he  gets 
out  of  it  the  better.  For  there  is  nothing  to  gratify  him  if 
he  be  an  artist,  nothing  to  interest  him  if  his  tastes  are 
antiquarian,  nothing  to  arouse  his  ardour,  even  though  he 
were  that  happy  and  most  ardent  creature,  a  naturalist  free 
from  rheumatism.  And  as  for  any  honest  fellow  mainly 
concerned  with  bread-and-butter,  his  head  will  at  once  go 
round  with  fear  and  with  looking  over  his  shoulders.  For 
it  is  a  lonesome  and  grewsome  place,  where  the  weather 
makes  no  difference ;  where  Nature  has  not  put  her  hand 
on  this  part  or  on  that,  to  leave  a  mark  or  show  a  prefer- 
ence, but  slurred  the  whole  with  one  black  frown  of  deso- 
late monotony. 

That  being  so,  the  few  and  simple  dwellers  on  the  moor- 
land around,  or  in  the  lowland  homesteads,  might  well  be 
trusted  to  keep  their  distance  from  this  dreary  solitude. 
There  were  tales  enough  of  hapless  travellers  last  seen 
going  in  this  direction,  and  never  in  any  other ;  as  well 
as  of  spectral  forms,  low  groans,  and  nightly  processions 
through  the  air. 

Not  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  there  had  been  a 
wicked  baronet,  profane,  rapacious,  arrogant,  black-hearted, 
foul,  and  impious.  A  blessed  curate  prayed  him  not  to 
hunt  on  Holy  Friday.  He  gave  the  blessed  curate  taste 
of  whip -thong  from  his  saddle;  then  blew  seven  blasts 
of  his  horn,  to  proclaim  that  he  would  hunt  seven  days  in 
every  week,  put  spurs  to  his  black  horse  and  away.  The 


BLACKMARSH  195 

fox,  disturbed  on  Holy  Friday,  made  for  this  "  forbidden 
land ;"  which  no  fox  had  ever  done  before.  For  his  life 
he  plunged  into  it,  feeling  for  the  moment  that  nothing 
could  be  worse  than  to  be  torn  in  pieces.  The  hounds 
stopped,  as  if  they  were  turned  to  stone  in  the  fury  of 
their  onslaught.  The  huntsman  had  been  left  far  behind, 
having  wife  and  family.  But  the  wicked  baronet  cracked 
his  whip,  blew  three  blasts  on  his  horn,  leaned  forward  on 
his  horse  and  gave  him  the  rowel.  The  hounds  in  a  frenzy 
threw  up  their  sterns,  and  all  plunged  headlong  into  it. 
And  ever  since  that  they  may  be  seen  (an  hour  after  sun- 
down, on  every  Sunday  of  the  season,  and  any  Holy  Fri- 
day) in  full  cry  scouring  through  the  air,  with  the  wicked 
baronet  after  them,  lashing  his  black  horse  and  blowing 
his  horn,  but  with  no  fox  in  front  to  excuse  them. 

These  facts  have  made  the  "  forbidden  land,"  or  the  Black- 
marsh,  as  some  call  it,  even  less  desirable  than  its  own 
complexion  shows  it.  And  it  is  so  far  from  Perlycross 
that  any  man  on  foot  is  tired  by  the  time  he  gets  there, 
and  feels  that  he  has  travelled  far  enough,  and  in  common- 
sense  must  go  home  again. 

But  there  was  one  Perlycrucian  now — by  domicile,  not 
nativity — of  tireless  feet  and  reckless  spirit,  too  young  for 
family  ties,  and  too  impetuous  for  legends.  By  this  time 
he  was  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  every  hedge  and  ditch 
in  the  parish,  because  he  was  too  quick  to  be  caught  and 
too  young  to  be  prosecuted.  "  Horatio  Peckover"  was  his 
name,  by  usage  cut  short  into  "  Hopper ;"  a  lad  in  advance 
of  his  period,  and  the  precursor  of  all  "  paper-chases." 

Like  many  of  those  who  are  great  in  this  line,  he  was 
not  equally  strong  in  the  sedentary  uses  of  that  article. 
Mr.  Penniloe  found  him  so  far  behind,  when  pen  and  ink 
had  to  be  dealt  with,  that  he  put  him  under  the  fine  Roman 
hand  of  Sergeant  Jakes  the  school-master.  Jakes  was  not 
too  richly  endowed  by  a  grateful  country  for  years  of 
heroism,  neither  was  his  stipend  very  gorgeous  for  swing- 
ing cane  in  lieu  of  gun.  Sixpence  an  hour  was  his  figure 
for  pen-drill  of  private  pupils,  and  he  gladly  added  Hopper 
to  the  meagre  awkward-squad. 

Soon  an  alliance  of  the  closest  kind  was  formed ;  the 
veteran  taking  warm  interest  in  the  spirited  sallies  of 


196  PEELYCEOSS 

youth,  and  the  youth  with  eager  thirst  imbibing  the  fine 
old  Peninsular  vintage  of  the  brightest  ruby,  poured  forth 
in  the  radiance  of  a  yellow  tallow-candle.  For  the  long 
school-room  was  cleared  at  night  of  coats  and  hats  and 
green-baize  bags,  cracked  slates,  bead-slides,  and  spelling- 
books,  and  all  the  other  accoutrements,  and  even  toys  of 
the  youthful  Muse  ;  and  at  seven  o'clock  Horatio  stepped 
across  the  road  from  the  rectory,  sat  down  at  the  master's 
high  black  desk,  and  shouldered  arms  for  the  copy-drill. 
The  sergeant  was  famed  for  his  flourishes,  chiefly  of  his 
own  invention,  and  had  promised  to  impart  that  higher 
finish  when  the  fancy  capitals  were  mastered. 

"  What  a  whack  of  time  it  does  take,  sergeant !"  cried 
Hopper,  as  he  dipped  his  pen  one  Friday  night.  "  Not 
half  so  bad  as  Latin  though,  and  there  is  something  to 
look  at  afterwards.  Capitals  almost  captured  now.  Ah, 
you  have  taken  the  capitals  of  many  a  country,  sergeant. 
Halloa!  'Xerxes  was  conqueror  at  Marathon,'  to-night! 
Sergeant,  are  you  quite  sure  of  that  ?  I  thought  it  was 
another  fellow,  with  a  longer  name — Milly,  Tilly  some- 
thing." 

"  No,  Master  Hopper ;  if  it  had  been,  we  must  have 
passed  him  long  ago  among  the  big  M's." 

"  To  be  sure.  What  a  muff  I  was  not  to  think  of  that ! 
I  beg  your  pardon,  sergeant.  There's  scarcely  anything 
you  don't  know." 

"  I  had  that  on  the  highest  authority — right  elbow  more 
in  to  your  side,  sir,  if  you  please — that  Xerxes  copy  was 
always  set  by  commanding  officer  at  Turry  Vardoes — 
could  not  tell  what  to  do  with  the  men  at  night — so  many 
ordered  to  play  at  nine-pins,  and  so  many  told  off  to  learn 
round-hand.  If  it  had  not  been  for  that,  sir,  I  should 
never  have  been  equal  to  my  present  situation." 

"Then  it  must  have  been  Xerxes,  sergeant.  And 
after  all,  how  can  it  matter,  when  it  happened  so  long  ago  ? 
A  blot  again  !  D it." 

"  Master  Hopper,  I  am  very  sorry,  but  it  is  my  duty  to 
reprimand  you  for  the  use  of  profane  language.  Never 
permitted,  sir,  in  school-hours.  Would  you  do  it  before 
Mr.  Penniloe  ?" 

"I  should  rather  hope  not.      Wouldn't  old  Pen  stare? 


BLACKMARSH  197 

And  then  he'd  be  down  upon  me  like  the  very — capital 
D.  Sergeant,  pray  excuse  me ;  I  only  thought  of  him 
without  any  name.  I  suppose  we  may  call  him  '  Old  Nick ' 
though,  without  having  to  go  to  him  for  doing  it.  I 
never  could  see  what  the  difference  was.  But,  my  eye, 
sergeant,  I  expected  to  see  the  old  chap  yesterday,  cloven 
hoof,  tail,  eyes  of  fire,  and  everything !" 

"  What  do  you  mean,  sir  ?  Where  was  he  ?  Not  in 
Perlycross,  I  hope."  Sergeant  Jakes  glanced  down  the 
long  dark  room,  and  then  at  the  pegs  where  his  French 
sword  was  hanging. 

"  No,  not  here.  He  daren't  come  so  near  the  church. 
But  in  the  place  where  he  lives  all  day,  according  to  the 
best  authorities.  You  have  heard  of  Blackmarsh,  haven't 
you  ?  No  marsh  at  all — that's  the  joke  of  it — but  the 
queerest  place  I  ever  saw  in  all  my  life.  Criky  jimminy, 
but  it  is  a  rum  un  !" 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  you  were  there,  sir !"  The 
sergeant  took  his  hand  from  Hopper's  shoulder,  and  went 
round  to  see  whether  he  was  joking. 

"  To  be  sure  I  was,  as  large  as  life  and  twice  as  natural ! 
Had  a  holiday,  as  you  know,  and  got  leave  off  from  din- 
ner. Mother  Muggridge  gave  me  grub  enough  to  go  to 
Halifax.  I  had  been  meaning  to  go  there  ever  so  long, 
because  everybody  seems  to  funk  it  so.  Why,  there's 
nothing  there  to  be  afraid  of ;  though  it  makes  you  look 
about  a  bit.  And  you  aren't  sorry  to  come  out  of  it." 

"  Did  you  tell  Mr.  Penniloe  you  had  been  there,  Master 
Hopper  ?" 

"  Sergeant,  do  you  see  any  green  in  my  eye  ?"  Horatio 
dropped  his  pen  and  enlarged  the  aperture  of  one  eye,  in 
a  style  very  fashionable  just  then,  but  never  very  elegant. 

"  No,  sir ;  I  can't  answer  fairly  that  I  do.  And  I  don't 
believe  there  ever  was  much  even  when  you  was  a  babby." 

"Mum's  the  word,  you  see  then  —  even  to  old  Mug- 
gridge, or  she  might  be  fool  enough  to  let  out.  But  I  say, 
sergeant,  I've  got  a  little  job  for  you  to  do.  Easy  enough. 
I  know  you  won't  refuse  me." 

"  No,  sir,  that  I  won't.  Anything  whatever  that  lays  in 
my  power,  Master  Hopper." 

"Well,  it's  only  this — just  to  come  with  me  to-mor- 


198  PERLYCROSS 

row  —  half-holiday,  you  know,  and  I  can  get  off  plum- 
duffs — always  plum-duffs  on  a  Saturday,  and  you  should 
just  see  Pike  pitching  into  them — and  we'll  give  the  after- 
noon to  it,  and  examine  Blackmarsh  pretty  thoroughly." 

"  Blackmarsh,  Master  Hopper!  The  'forbidden  land' — 
where  Sir  Robert,  upon  his  black  horse  and  forty  hounds 
in  full  cry  before  him,  may  be  seen  and  heard  sweeping 
through  the  air  like  fiends  !" 

"  Oh,  that's  all  my  eye  and  Betty  Martin  !  Nobody  be- 
lieves that,  I  should  hope.  Why,  sergeant,  a  man  who 
knows  all  about  Xerxes,  and  has  taken  half  the  capitals  in 
Europe — oh,  I  say,  sergeant,  come,  you  are  not  afraid 
now ;  and  a  fellow  of  sixteen,  like  me,  to  go  there  all  by 
myself  and  stop — well,  nearly  half  an  hour  !" 

"  Afraid !  Not  I.  No,  certainly  not,  after  mountains 
and  forests  and  caverns  and  deserts.  But  the  distance, 
Master  Hopper,  for  a  man  of  my  age,  and  troubled  with 
rheumatism  in  the  knee-joint." 

"  Oh,  that's  all  right !  I  have  planned  out  all  that. 
Of  course  I  don't  expect  you  to  go  ten  miles  an  hour. 
But  Baker  Channing's  light  cart  goes  every  other  Satur- 
day to  Crooked-post  Quarry,  at  the  farther  end  of  Hag- 
don,  to  fetch  back  furze  enough  to  keep  his  oven  going 
from  a  stack  he  bought  there  last  summer.  To-morrow  is 
his  day  ;  and  you  have  no  school,  you  know,  after  half- 
past  ten  or  eleven.  You  ride  with  old  Tucker  to  the 
Crooked-post,  and  come  back  with  him  when. he  is  loaded 
np.  It  sha'n't  cost  you  a  farthing.  I  have  got  a  shilling 
left,  and  he  shall  have  it.  It  is  only  two  miles  or  so  from 
Crooked-post  to  this  end  of  Blackmarsh ;  and  there  you 
will  find  me  waiting.  Come,  you  can't  get  out  of  that." 

"But  what  do  you  want  me  there  for,  sir  ?  Of  course, 
I'd  go  anywhere  you  would  venture,  if  I  could  see  any 
good  in  it." 

"Sergeant,  I'll  tell  you  what.  You  thought  a  great 
deal  of  Sir  Thomas  Waldron,  didn't  you  ?" 

"  More  than  of  any  man  that  ever  lived  or  ever  will  see 
the  light  of  this  wicked  world." 

"  And  you  didn't  like  what  was  done  to  him,  did  you  ?" 

"  Master  Hopper,  I  tell  you  what.  I'd  give  ten  years  of 
my  poor  life  if  I  could  find  out  who  did  it." 


BLACKMAKSH  199 

"Then  I  fancy  I  have  found  out  something  about  it. 
Not  much,  mind ;  but  still  something,  and  may  come  to 
more  if  we  follow  it  up.  And  if  you  come  to-morrow  I'll 
show  you  what  it  is.  You  know  that  my  eyes  are  pretty 
sharp,  and  that  I  wasn't  born  yesterday.  You  know  who 
it  was  that  found  '  Little  Billy.'  And  you  know  who 
wants  to  get  Fox  out  of  this  scrape  because  he  is  a  Som- 
erset man,  and  all  that,  and  doesn't  deserve  this  trouble. 
And  still  more,  because — " 

"  Well,  Master  Hopper,  still  more  because  of  what  ?" 

"I  don't  mind  telling  you  something,  sergeant — you 
have  seen  a  lot  of  the  world,  you  know.  Because  Jemmy 
Fox  has  got  a  deuced  pretty  sister." 

"  Oh  come,  Master  Hopper,  at  your  time  of  life  !  And 
not  even  got  into  the  flourishes !" 

"  It  doesn't  matter,  Jakes.  I  may  seem  rather  young 
to  people  who  don't  understand  the  question.  But  that  is 
my  own  business,  I  should  hope.  Well,  I  shall  look  out 
for  you  to-morrow.  Two  o'clock  at  the  latest." 

"But  why  shouldn't  we  tell  Dr.  Fox  himself,  and  get 
him  to  come  with  us?  That  seems  the  simplest  thing." 

"No;  there  are  very  good  reasons  against  that.  I  have 
found  this  out.  and  I  mean  to  stick  to  it.  No  one  would 
have  dreamed  of  it,  except  for  me.  And  I  won't  have  it 
spoiled  by  every  nincompoop  poking  his  nose  into  it. 
Only  if  we  find  anything  more,  and  you  agree  with  me 
about  it,  we  will  tell  old  Pen,  and  go  by  his  opinion." 

"  Very  well,  sir.  It  all  belongs  to  you  ;  as  it  did  to  me, 
when  I  was  first  after  Soult's  arrival  to  discover  the  ad- 
vance of  the  French  outposts.  You  shall  have  the  credit, 
though  I  didn't.  Anything  more,  sir?  The  candle  is  al- 
most out." 

"Sergeant,  no  more.  Unless  you  could  manage  —  I 
mean,  unless  you  should  think  it  wise  to  bring  your  fine  old 
sword  with  you.  You  say  there  is  no  such  piece  of  steel — " 

"  Master  Hopper,  there  is  no  such  piece,  unless  it  was 
Lord  Wellington's.  They  say  he  had  one  that  he  could 
lean  on — not  a  dress -sword,  not  flummery,  but  a  real 
workman — and  although  he  was  never  a  heavy  man,  a 
stone  and  a  half  less  than  I  was  then,  it  would  make  any 
figure  of  the  multiplication-table  that  he  chose  to  call  for 


200  PERLYCEOSS 

under  him.  But  I  mustn't  carry  arms  in  these  days,  Mas- 
ter Hopper.  I  shall  bring  a  bit  of  Spanish  oak,  and  trust 
in  the  Lord." 

On  the  following  day  the  sun  was  shining  pretty  well 
for  the  decrepitude  of  the  year.  There  had  been  no  frost 
to  speak  of  since  that  first  sharp  touch  about  three  weeks 
back.  The  air  was  mild,  and  a  westerly  breeze  played 
with  the  half-ripe  pods  of  gorse,  and  the  brown  welting  of 
the  heather.  Hopper  had  brought  a  long  wand  of  withy 
from  the  bank  of  the  last  brook  he  had  leaped,  and  he 
peeled  it  with  his  pocket-knife,  and  sat  (which  he  seldom 
did  when  he  could  help  it)  on  a  tuft  of  rush,  waiting  for 
the  sergeant.  He  stretched  his  long  wiry  legs,  and  count- 
ed the  brass  buttons  on  his  yellow  leathern  gaiters,  which 
came  nearly  to  his  fork,  and  were  made  fast  by  narrow 
straps  to  his  brace-buttons. 

This  young  man — as  he  delighted  to  be  called — had  not 
many  grievances,  because  he  ran  them  off  so  fast ;  but 
the  two  he  chiefly  dwelt  upon,  in  his  few  still  moments, 
were  the  insufficiency  of  cash  and  calf.  For  the  former 
he  was  chiefly  indebted  to  himself,  having  never  cultivated 
powers  of  retention  ;  for  the  deficiency  of  calves,  however, 
Nature  was  to  blame,  although  she  might  plead  not  un- 
fairly that  they  were  allowed  no  time  to  grow.  He  re- 
garded them  now  with  unmerited  contempt,  and  slapped 
them  in  some  indignation  with  the  supple  willow  wand. 
It  might  well  be  confessed  that  they  were  not  very  large, 
as  is  often  the  case  with  long-distance  runners ;  but,  for 
all  that,  they  were  as  hard  as  nails,  and  endowed  with 
knobs  of  muscle,  tough  and  tense  as  coiled  main-spring. 
In  fact,  there  was  not  a  bit  of  flabby  stuff  about  him  ;  and 
his  high  clear  colour,  bright  eyes,  and  ready  aspect,  made 
him  very  pleasant  to  behold,  though  his  nose  was  rather 
snubby,  and  his  cheek-bones  high,  and  his  mouth  of  too 
liberal  aperture. 

"  Come  along,  sergeant;  what  a  precious  time  you  have 
taken !"  Hopper  shouted,  as  the  angular  outline  of  the 
veteran  appeared  at  last  in  a  gap  between  two  ridges. 
"  Why,  we  shall  scarcely  have  two  hours  of  good  daylight 
left.  And  how  do  you  know  that  Tucker  won't  go  home 
without  you  ?" 


BLACKMARSH  201 

"  He  knows  a  bit  better  than  that,"  replied  Jakes,  smil- 
ing with  dark  significance.  "Master  Hopper,  I've  got 
three  of  Tucker's  boys  in  <  Horseshoe.'  Tucker  is  bound 
to  be  uncommon  civil." 

Now  the  "  Horseshoe "  was  a  form  in  the  school  at 
Perlycross  especially  adapted  for  corporal  applications, 
snug  as  a  cockpit,  and  affording  no  possibility  of  escape. 
And  what  was  still  better,  the  boys  of  that  class  were  in 
the  very  prime  of  age  for  attracting,  as  well  as  appreciat- 
ing, healthy  and  vigorous  chastisement ;  all  of  them  big 
enough  to  stand  it,  none  of  them  big  enough  to  kick,  and 
for  the  most  part  newly-trousered  into  tempting  chubbiness. 
Truly,  it  might  be  said  that  the  parents  of  playful  boys  in 
the  "  Horseshoe  "  had  given  hostages  to  education. 

"But,  bless  my  heart  —  what  —  what?"  continued  the 
ancient  soldier,  as  he  followed  the  rapid  steps  of  Hopper, 
"  why,  I  don't  like  the  look  of  this  place  at  all.  It  looks  so 
weist — as  we  say  about  here,  so  unwholesome  and  strange 
and  ungodly  and — and  so  timoursome." 

"  It  is  ever  so  much  worse  farther  on,  and  you  can't  tell 
where  you  are  at  all.  But  to  make  sure  of  our  coming 
back,  if — if  there  should  be  nothing  to  prevent  us,  I  have 
got  this  white  stick  ready,  and  I  am  going  to  fix  it  on  the 
top  of  that  clump.  There  now,  we  shall  be  able  to  see 
that  for  miles." 

"But  we  are  not  going  miles,  I  hope,  Master  Hopper. 
I'm  a  little  too  stiff  for  such  a  walk  as  that.  You  don't 
know  what  it  is  to  have  a  pain  in  your  knee." 

"  Oh,  don't  I  ?  I  come  down  on  it  often  enough.  But 
I  don't  know  exactly  how  far  we  are  going.  There  is  noth- 
ing to  measure  distance  by.  Come  along,  sergeant !  We'll 
be  just  like  two  flies  going  into  one  of  your  big  inkpots." 

"  Don't  let  me  lose  sight  of  you,  Master  Hopper.  I 
mean,  don't  you  lose  sight  of  me.  You  might  want  some- 
body to  stand  by  you.  It  is  the  darkest  bit  of  God's  earth 
I  ever  did  see.  And  yet  nothing  overhead  to  darken  it. 
Seems  almost  to  make  its  own  shadow.  Good  Lord  !  what 
was  that  came  by  me  ?" 

"  Oh,  a  bat,  or  an  owl,  or  a  big  dorr-beetle  ;  or  it  might 
be  a  thunder-bolt  —  just  the  sort  of  place  for  them.      But 
— what  a  bad  place  it  is  for  finding  things !" 
9* 


202  PERLYCKOSS 

There  could  scarcely  have  been  a  worse  one — at  least, 
upon  dry  and  unforested  land.  There  was  no  marsh  what- 
ever, so  far  as  they  had  come,  but  a  dry,  uneven,  shingly 
surface,  black  as  if  fire  had  passed  over  it.  There  was 
no  trace,  however,  of  fire,  neither  any  substance  sufficient 
to  hold  it,  beyond  the  mere  passage  of  a  shallow  flame. 
The  blackness  that  covered  the  face  of  the  earth,  and 
seemed  to  stain  the  air  itself  and  heavily  dim  the  daylight, 
was  of  something  unknown  upon  the  breezy  hills,  or  in  the 
clear  draught  of  a  valley.  It  reflected  no  light  and  received 
no  shadow,  but  lay  like  the  strewing  of  some  approach  to 
quarters  undesirable.  Probably  from  this  (while  unexam- 
ined  by  such  men  as  we  have  now)  the  evil  repute  of  the 
place  had  arisen,  going  down  generations  of  mankind, 
while  the  stuff  at  the  bottom  renewed  itself. 

This  stuff  appeared  to  be  the  growth  of  some  lanky, 
trailing  weeds,  perhaps  some  kind  of  Persicaria,  but  un- 
usually dense  and  formless,  resembling  what  may  be  seen 
sometimes  at  the  bottom  of  a  dark  watercourse,  where  the 
river  slides  without  a  wrinkle,  and  trees  of  thick  foliage 
overhang  it.  And  the  same  spread  of  life,  that  is  more 
like  death,  may  be  seen  where  leagues  of  laver  strew  the 
foreshore  of  an  Atlantic  coast  when  the  spring-tides  are 
out  and  the  winds  gone  low. 

"  By  George  !  here  we  are  at  last.  Thought  I  should 
never  have  made  it  out  in  the  thick  of  this  blessed  cobob- 
bery !"  shouted  Hopper,  stopping  short  and  beckoning. 
"  Now,  sergeant,  what  do  you  say  to  that  ?  Queer  thing 
just  here,  isn't  it  ?" 

The  veteran's  eyes,  confused  and  weary  with  the  long 
monotony,  were  dazzled  by  sudden  contrast.  Hitherto  the 
dreary  surface,  uniform  and  trackless,  had  offered  only 
heavy  plodding,  jarred  by  the  jerk  of  a  hidden  stone  some- 
times, but  never  elastic.  All  the  boundary-beaters  of  the 
parish,  or  even  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  might  have  passed 
throughout  and  left  no  trace  upon  the  padded  cumber. 
But  here  a  glaring  stripe  of  silver  sand  broke  through  t)ie 
blackness,  intensely  white  by  contrast,  though  not  to  be 
seen  a  few  yards  off,  because  sunk  below  the  level. 
Like  a  crack  of  the  ground  from  earthquake,  it  ran  across 
from  right  to  left,  and  beyond  it  all  was  black  again. 


BLACKMARSH  203 

The  ancient  soldier  glanced  around,  to  be  sure  that  no 
surprise  was  meant ;  and  then  with  his  big  stick  tried  the 
substance  of  the  white  material.  With  one  long  stride  he 
could  have  reached  the  other  side,  but  the  caution  of 
perilous  days  awoke. 

"  Oh,  there's  nothing  in  that,  and  it  is  firm  enough. 
But  look  here,"  said  his  young  companion,  "  this  is  what 
floors  me  altogether." 

He  pointed  to  a  place  where  two  deep  tracks,  as  of  nar- 
row wheels,  crossed  the  white  opening;  and  between 
them  were  three  little  pits  about  the  size  and  depth  of  a 
gallon  saucepan.  The  wheel-tracks  swerved  to  the  left, 
as  if  with  a  jerk  to  get  out  of  the  sandy  hollow,  and  one 
of  the  three  footprints  was  deeper  and  larger  than  the 
other  two. 

"  Truly  this  is  the  doing  of  the  archenemy  of  mankind 
himself."  Sergeant  Jakes  spoke  solemnly,  and  yet  not 
very  slowly,  for  he  longed  to  make  off  with  promptitude. 

"  The  doing,  more  likely,  of  those  big  thieves  who 
couldn't  let  your  colonel  rest  in  his  grave.  Do  you  mean 
to  turn  tail  upon  them,  Sergeant  Jakes  ?" 

"  May  the  Lord  turn  His  back  upon  me,  if  I  do  !"  The 
veteran's  colour  returned  to  his  face,  and  all  thoughts  of 
flight  departed.  "  I  would  go  to  the  ends  of  the  world,  Mas- 
ter Hopper,  after  any  living  man,  but  not  after  Satan." 

"  The  devil  was  in  them,  no  doubt  about  that ;  but 
he  made  them  do  it  for  him.  Does  Old  Nick  carry  whip- 
cord ?  You  see  how  that  was,  don't  you  ?" 

The  youth  leaped  across,  and  brought  back  the  lash  of 
a  whip  which  he  had  concealed  there.  "  Plain  as  a  pike- 
staff, sergeant.  When  the  wheels  plunged  into  this  soft 
stuff  the  driver  must  have  lashed  like  fury  to  make  him 
spring  the  cart  out  again.  Off  came  the  old  lash,  and  here 
it  is.  But  wait  a  minute.  I've  got  something  more  to 
show  you,  that  spots  the  villains  pretty  plain." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  Jakes,  regarding  Hopper  with  no 
small  admiration,  "  you  deserve  your  stripes  for  this. 
Such  a  bright  young  gent  shouldn't  be  thrown  away  in 
the  Church.  I  was  just  going  to  say,  '  How  can  we  tell 
they  did  it  V  Though  none  but  thundering  rogues  would 
come  here.  Nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that,  I  take  it." 


204  PEKLYCKOSS 

"  Then  you  and  I  are  thundering  rogues.  Got  you 
there,  sergeant ;  by  gum,  I  did  !  Now  come  on  a  few 
steps  farther. 

They  stepped  out  boldly,  having  far  less  fear  of  human 
than  of  superhuman  agency ;  though  better  had  they  met 
Apollyon,  perhaps,  than  the  wild  men  they  were  tracing. 
Within  less  than  a  furlong  they  reached  an  opening  where 
the  smother  of  the  black  weeds  fell  away,  and  an  open 
track  was  left  once  more.  Here  the  cart-wheels  could  be 
traced  distinctly,  and  at  one  spot  something  far  more 
convincing.  In  the  middle  of  the  track  a  patch  of  firm 
blue  clay  arose  above  the  surface  for  a  distance  of  per- 
haps some  fifty  yards ;  and  on  it  were  frequent  impres- 
sions of  the  hoofs  of  a  large  horse  moving  slowly.  And 
of  these  impressions  one  (repeated  four  or  five  times,  very 
clearly)  was  that  of  the  near  fore-foot,  distinctly  showing 
a  broken  shoe,  and  the  very  slope  and  jag  of  the  fracture. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  that  now,  sergeant  ?"  asked 
Hopper,  as  he  danced  in  triumph,  but  took  good" care  not 
to  dance  upon  the  clay.  "  They  call  me  a  hedger  and 
ditcher,  don't  they  ?  Well,  I  think  I  am  a  roadster,  too." 

"  Master  Hopper,  to  my  mind  you  are  an  uncommonly 
remarkable  young  gent.  The  multiplication-table  may  not 
be  strongly  in  your  line,  sir ;  but  you  can  put  two  and 
two  together,  and  no  fear  to  jump  on  top  of  them." 

"  Oh,  but  the  bad-luck  of  it,  sergeant !  The  good-luck 
for  them,  and  the  shocking  luck  for  me.  I  never  came  to 
old  Pen's  shop,  you  see,  till  a  day  or  two  after  it  was  found 
out.  And  then  it  took  me  a  fortnight  or  more  to  get  up 
the  lay  of  the  country,  and  all  that.  And  I  was  out  of 
condition  for  three  days,  with  a  blessed  example  in  the 
Eton  grammar.  Percontatoremfugito,  that  frightened  me 
no  end,  and  threw  me  off  the  hooks.  But  I  fancy  I  am 
on  the  right  hook  now." 

"That  you  are,  sir,  and  no  mistake.  And  a  braver 
young  man  never  came  into  a  regiment,  even  in  Sir  Ar- 
thur's time.  Sir,  you  must  pitch  away  copy-books.  Edu- 
cation is  all  very  fine  for  those  who  can't  do  no  better. 
But  it  spoils  a  young  man  with  higher  gifts." 

"  Don't  say  a  good  word  of  me  till  you  know  all,"  re- 
plied the  candid  Hopper.  "  I  thought  that  I  was  a  pretty 


BLACKMARSH  205 

plucky  fellow,  because  I  was  all  by  myself,  you  under- 
stand, and  I  knew  that  no  fellow  could  catch  me  in  a  run 
across  the  open.  But  I'll  show  you  where  I  was  stodged 
off ;  and  it  has  been  on  my  conscience  ever  since.  Just 
come  to  that  place  where  the  ground  breaks  off." 

He  led  the  way  along  a  gentle  slope,  while  the  light  be- 
gan to  fail  behind  them,  until  they  stood  upon  the  brink 
of  a  steep  descent,  with  a  sharp  rise  upon  the  other  side. 
It  was  like  the  back  way  to  the  bottom  of  a  lime-kiln,  but 
there  was  no  lime  for  many  leagues  around.  The  track  of 
cart-wheels  was  very  manifest,  and  the  bottom  was  dark 
with  the  approach  of  night. 

"  My  turn,  Mr.  Hopper,  to  go  first  now.  No  wife  or 
family,  and  naught  to  leave  behind."  With  these  words, 
spoken  in  a  whisper,  the  sergeant  (who  had  felt  much  self- 
reproach  at  the  superior  courage  of  a  peaceful  generation) 
began  to  go  stiffly  down  the  dark  incline,  waving  his  hand 
for  the  other  to  wait  there. 

"  In  for  a  penny,  in  for  a  pound.  I  can  kick  like 
winkin',  though  I  can't  fight  much."  With  these  words 
the  gallant  Hopper  followed,  slowing  his  quick  steps  to 
the  heavier  march  in  front. 

When  they  came  to  the  bottom  they  found  a  level 
space,  with  room  enough  to  turn  a  horse  and  cart.  It 
was  getting  very  dusky  where  they  stood,  with  the  grim 
sides  gathering  round  them,  and  not  a  tree  or  bush  to 
give  any  sign  of  life,  but  the  fringe  of  the  dominant  black 
weed,  like  heavy  brows,  shagging  the  outlook.  But  on 
the  left  hand,  where  the  steep  fell  back,  was  the  mouth  as 
of  a  cave  scooped  roughly.  Within  it  all  was  black  with 
gloom,  and  the  low  narrow  entrance  showed  little  hospi- 
tality. 

"  I  don't  care  a  d !"  said  Sergeant  Jakes,  forgetful  of 

school  discipline  ;  "  if  there's  any  scoundrel  there  I'll  drag 
him  out.  If  it's  old  colonel's  bones — well,  I'm  not  afraid 
of  them."  There  remained  just  light  enough  to  show  that 
the  cart  had  been  backed  up  to  the  entrance. 

"  Where  you  go,  I  go,"  replied  the  dauntless  Hopper ; 
and  into  it  they  plunged,  with  their  hearts  beating  high, 
but  their  spirit  on  fire  for  anything. 

The  sound  of  their  steps,  as  they  passed  into  the  dark- 


206  PERLYCROSS 

ness,  echoed  the  emptiness  of  the  place.  There  was  noth- 
ing to  be  felt,  except  rugged  flinty  sides,  and  the  damp 
chill  which  gathered  in  their  hair ;  and  in  the  middle  a 
slab  of  broken  stone,  over  which  they  stumbled  into  one 
another's  arms.  They  had  no  means  of  striking  a  light ; 
but  as  their  eyes  grew  accustomed  to  the  gloom,  they  as- 
sured themselves  that  there  was  nothing  more  to  learn, 
unless  it  might  be  from  some  small  object  on  the  floor. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  shelves,  no  sort  of  fixtures,  no  re- 
cesses ;  only  the  bare  and  unoccupied  cave. 

"  I  tell  you  what,"  said  Sergeant  Jakes,  as  they  stood 
in  the  open  air  again,  "  this  has  been  a  smuggler's  store 
in  the  war-time  ;  a  natural  cave,  improved  no  doubt.  What 
we  thought  to  find  is  gone  farther  on,  I  fear.  Too  late. 
Master  Hopper,  to  do  any  more  to-day,  and,  perhaps,  too 
late  to  do  any  more  at  all.  But  we  must  come  again  with 
a  light,  if  possible  on  Monday." 

"  Well,  one  thing  we  have  proved — that  the  villains, 
whoever  they  were,  must  have  come  from  up  the  country ; 
perhaps  as  far  off  as  the  Mendip  Hills.  But  keep  it  to 
yourself,  till  we  have  settled  what  to  do.  Not  a  word  to 
Tucker,  or  the  news  will  be  all  over  Perlycross  to-night. 
Come  back  to  the  hoof-marks,  and  I'll  take  a  copy.  If  we 
could  only  find  the  impressions  of  the  men's  feet,  too  ! 
You  see,  after  all,  that  Joe  Crang  spoke  the  truth.  And 
it  was  the  discovery  of  his  *  Little  Billy  '  that  led  me  on 
in  this  direction." 

There  was  light  enough  still  when  they  came  back  to 
the  clay -patch  to  make  a  rough  tracing  of  the  broken 
shoe  on  the  paper  in  which  the  youth  had  brought  his 
bread  and  bacon ;  and  even  that  great  steeple-chaser  was 
glad  to  go  home  in  company,  and  upon  a  truss  of  furze, 
with  a  flour-sack  to  shield  him  from  the  stubs  and  pric- 
kles. 


CHAPTER   XXII 
FIRE-SHIP    AND    GALLEON 


MEANWHILE,  the  fair  Christie  was  recovering  nerve  so 
fast,  and  established  in  such  bouncing  health  again  by 
the  red -wheat  bread  of  White  Post  farm  that  nothing 
less  would  satisfy  her  than  to  beard — if  the  metaphor  ap- 
plies to  ladies — the  lion  in  the  den,  the  arch -accuser  in 
the  very  court  of  judgment.  In  a  word,  she  would  not 
rest  until  she  stood  face  to  face  with  Lady  Waldron.  She 
had  thought  of  it  often,  and  became  quite  eager  in  that 
determination,  when  her  brother  related  to  her  what  had 
passed  in  his  interview  with  Miss  Waldron. 

Truly,  it  was  an  enterprise  of  great  pith  for  a  fair 
young  English  girl  to  confront  the  dark  majestic  foreign 
lady,  stately,  arrogant,  imperious,  and,  above  all,  imbit- 
tered  with  a  cruel  wrong,  fierce,  malignant,  rancorous. 
But,  for  all  that,  Christie  was  resolved  to  do  it,  though 
perfectly  aware  that  the  Spanish  lady  would  never  be  "  at 
home  "  to  her  if  she  could  help  it. 

For  this  reason,  and  this  alone,  as  she  positively  as- 
sured herself,  did  Miss  Fox  make  so  long  a  stay  with  Mrs. 
Gilham,  the  while  she  was  quite  well  enough  to  go  back 
to  Old  Barn,  and  the  path  of  duty  led  her  to  her  brother's 
side.  But  let  her  once  return  to  that  side,  and  all  hope 
would  be  lost  of  arranging  an  encounter  with  the  slan- 
derer ;  inasmuch  as  Dr.  Jemmy  would  most  sternly  inter- 
dict it.  Her  good  hostess,  all  the  while,  was  only  too  glad 
to  keep  her ;  and  so  was  another  important  member  of 
the  quiet  household ;  and  even  the  flippant  Rosie  was  de- 
lighted to  have  such  patterns.  For  Miss  Fox  had  sent  for 
a  large  supply  of  dresses,  all  the  way  to  Foxden,  by  the  key- 
bugleman  of  the  "  Defiance;"  because  it  would  save  such 
a  vast  amount  in  carriage,  while  one  was  so  near  the  Great 


208  PERLYCKOSS 

Western  road.  "I  can't  understand  it,"  protested  Dr. 
Jemmy.  "  As  if  men  ever  could  !"  replied  the  young 
lady. 

However,  the  sweetest  slice  of  sugar-cane  must  have 
empty  pores  too  soon,  and  the  last  drop  of  honey  drains 
out  of  the  comb,  and  the  silver  voice  of  the  flute  expires, 
and  the  petals  of  the  fairest  rose  must  flag.  All  these 
ideas  (which  have  been  repeated,  or  repeated  themselves, 
for  some  thousands  of  years)  were  present  for  the  first 
time  in  all  existence — according  to  his  conviction — in  the 
mind  of  an  exalted  yet  depressed  young  farmer  one  fine 
Monday  morning.  Miss  Fox  had  received  her  very  last 
despatch,  to  the  tune  of  "  Roast  beef,"  that  morning,  and, 
sad  to  say,  she  had  not  cut  the  string,  though  her  pretty 
fingers  flirted  with  it. 

"  My  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Gilham,  longing  much  to  see 
within,  inasmuch  as  she  still  had  a  tender  heart  for  dainty 
tint  and  true  elegance  of  tone,  "  if  you  wish  to  save  the 
string — fine  whip-cord  every  inch  of  it — Frank  has  a  pick- 
er in  the  six-bladed  knife  his  Godfather  Farrant  gave  him 
that  will  undo  any  knot  that  was  ever  tied  by  Samson." 
Upon  him,  she  meant,  perhaps ;  however,  the  result  is  quite 
the  same. 

"  No,  thank  you,"  answered  Christie,  with  a  melancholy 
glance ;  "  it  had  better  be  put  in  my  trunk  as  it  is.  What 
induced  them  to  send  it,  when  I'm  just  going  away  ?" 

"  Going  away  !  Next  week,  my  dear,  you  may  begin  to 
think  about  it." 

"  To-morrow  I  must  go.  I  am  as  well  as  ever.  Better, 
a  great  deal,  I  ought  to  say.  What  did  Dr.  Gronow  say 
on  Saturday  ?  And  I  came  down  here,  not  to  enjoy  my- 
self, but  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  my  poor  dear  brother." 

"  Why,  his  spirits  are  fine,  Miss  Fox.  I  only  wish  my 
poor  dear  Frank  had  a  quarter  of  them.  Last  night  I  am 
sure — and  a  Sunday  too,  when  you  and  my  son  were  gone 
to  church — " 

"  To  the  little  church  close  by,  you  mean,  with  Mrs. 
Coombes  and  Mary ;  because  the  sermon  in  the  morning 
had  felt  so — so  edifying." 

"  Yes,  to  be  sure.  But  when  your  brother  came  in,  and 
was  surprised  not  to  find  you  with  us,  you  know ;  his  con- 


FIEE-SHIP    AND    GALLEON  209 

versation — oh  dear,  oh  dear,  rather  worldly-minded,  I  must 
confess,  bearing  in  mind  what  day  it  was  ;  but  he  and  Rose 
they  kept  it  up  together,  for  the  tip  of  her  tongue  is  fit  for 
anybody's  ear-ring,  as  the  ancient  saying  goes — laughing, 
Miss  Fox,  and  carrying  on,  till,  although  I  was  rather  put 
out  about  it,  and  would  have  stopped  any  one  but  a  visit- 
or, I  was  absolutely  compelled,  I  assure  you,  to  pull  out 
my  pocket-handkerchief.  Oh,  I  don't  think  there  need  be 
much  fear  about  Dr.  Jemmy's  spirits !" 

"  But  don't  you  think,  Mrs.  Gilham,  it  is  chiefly  his 
pride  that  supports  him  ?  We  do  the  same  sort  of  thing 
sometimes.  We  go  into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  talk 
and  laugh  as  if  we  were  in  the  highest  spirits — when  we 
— when  we  don't  want  to  let  somebody  know  that  we  care 
what  he  thinks." 

"  Oh,  you  have  learned  that,  have  you,  my  dear  ?"  The 
old  lady  looked  at  her  with  some  surprise.  "  Well,  well ! 
Happy  will  be  the  man  that  you  do  it  for." 

Christie  felt  that  she  was  blushing,  and  yet  could  not 
help  giving  one  sharp  glance  at  her  simple  hostess.  And 
it  would  have  gone  hard  with  Frank  Gilham's  chances  if 
the  maiden  had  spied  any  special  meaning  in  the  eyes  of 
his  dear  mother.  But  the  elderly  lady  gazed  benignant, 
reflecting  softly  upon  the  time  when  she  had  been  put  to 
those  disguises  of  the  early  maidenhood ;  which  are  but 
the  face  with  its  first  bloom  upon  it.  For  the  plain  truth 
was  that  she  did  not  wish  her  son  to  fall  in  love  for  some 
ten  years  yet,  at  the  age  that  had  suited  his  father.  And 
as  for  Miss  Fox,  half  a  glimpse  at  her  parcels  would  show 
her  entire  unfitness. 

"  I  shall  never  do  it  for  any  man,"  said  Christie,  in  scorn 
of  her  own  suggestion ;  "  if  I  am  anything,  I  am  straight- 
forward. And  if  ever  I  care  for  any  man,  I  shall  give  him 
my  hand  and  tell  him  so ;  not,  of  course,  till  I  know  that 
he  is  gone  upon  me.  But  now  I  want  to  do  a  crafty  thing. 
And  money  can  do  almost  anything — except  in  love,  Mrs. 
Gilham.  I  would  not  do  it  without  your  knowledge  ;  for 
that  would  be  a  very  mean  return  for  all  your  kindness  to 
me.  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  see  Lady  Waldron,  and 
tell  her  just  what  I  think  of  her." 

"  My  dear,  Lady  Waldron  is  nothing  to  me.     The  Gil- 


210  PERLYCKOSS 

hams  have  held  their  own  land  from  the  time  of  cross- 
bows and  battle-axes.  Besides  our  own,  we  rent  about 
fifty  acres  of  the  outside  of  the  Waldron  property.  But 
if  they  can  get  more  for  it,  let  them  do  so.  Everybody 
loved  poor  Sir  Thomas,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  have  to 
deal  with  him.  But  there  is  no  such  feeling  about  her 
ladyship ;  noble  enough  to  look  at,  but  best  to  deal  with 
at  a  distance." 

"  Well,  I  mean  to  see  her  at  close  quarters.  She  has 
behaved  shamefully  to  my  brother.  And  who  is  she  to 
frighten  me  ?  She  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  these  wicked, 
wretched  falsehoods  that  go  about.  And  she  would  not 
even  see  him,  to  let  him  speak  up  for  truth  and  justice. 
I  call  that  mean  and  low  and  nasty.  Of  course  the  sub- 
ject is  horrible  to  her;  and  perhaps — well,  perhaps  I 
should  have  done  the  same.  But  for  all  that,  I  mean  to 
see  her ;  for  I  love  fair  play,  and  this  is  foul  play." 

"  What  a  spirit  you  have,  my  dear !  I  should  never 
have  thought  it  was  in  your  gentle  face.  But  you  are  in 
the  right.  And  if  I  can  help  you  —  that  is,  if  you  are 
equal  to  it — " 

"  I  am  more  than  equal  to  it,  my  dear  friend.  What  is 
there  to  fear,  with  the  truth  against  black  falsehoods?" 

Mrs.  Gilham  turned  her  wedding-ring  upon  her  "mar- 
riage-finger"— a  thing  she  never  failed  to  do  when  her 
heart  was  busy  with  the  by-gone  days.  Then  she  looked 
earnestly  at  her  guest,  and  saw  that  the  point  to  be  consid- 
ered was  —  not  shall  we  attempt  it,  but  how  shall  it  be 
done? 

"  Your  mind  is  entirely  set  upon  it.  And  therefore  we 
will  do  our  best,"  she  promised.  "But  it  cannot  be  man- 
aged in  a  moment.  Will  you  allow  me  to  consult  my  son? 
It  seems  like  attacking  a  house,  almost.  But  I  suppose  it 
is  fair  in  a  case  like  this." 

"Perfectly  fair.  In -doors  it  must  be,  as  there  is  no 
other  chance.  A  thief  must  be  caught  inside  a  house, 
when  he  will  not  come  out  of  it.  And  a  person  is  no  bet- 
ter than  a  thief  who  locks  her  doors  against  justice." 

When  Frank  was  consulted  he  was  much  against  the 
scheme ;  but  his  opposition  was  met  more  briefly  than  his 
mother's  had  been. 


FIRE-SHIP   AND   GALLEON  211 

"  Done  it  shall  be ;  and  if  you  will  not  help,  it  shall  be 
done  without  you" — was  the  attitude  taken,  not  quite  in 
words,  but  so  that  there  was  no  mistaking  it.  Then  he 
changed  sides  suddenly,  confuted  his  own  reasoning,  and 
entered  into  the  plan  quite  warmly ;  especially  when  it  was 
conceded  that  he  might  be  near  the  house,  if  he  thought 
proper,  in  case  of  anything  too  violent,  or  carried  beyond 
what  English  ladies  could  be  expected  to  endure.  For,  as 
all  agreed,  there  was  hardly  any  saying  what  an  arrogant 
foreigner  might  not  attempt. 

"I  am  quite  aware  that  it  will  cost  a  large  amount  of 
bribery,"  said  Christie,  with  a  smile  which  proved  her  faith 
in  her  own  powers  in  that  line ;  "  will  ten  pounds  do  it, 
Mr.  Frank,  should  you  suppose?" 

Though  far  gone  in  that  brilliant  and  gloomy,  nadir  and 
zenith,  tropical  and  arctic  condition  of  the  human  mind 
called  love,  Frank  Gilham  was  of  English  nature;  which, 
though  torn  up  by  the  roots,  ceases  not  to  stick  fast  to  the 
main  chance.  And  so  much  the  nobler  on  his  part  was 
this,  because  the  money  was  not  his,  nor  ever  likely  so 
to  be. 

"  I  think  that  three  pounds  ought  to  do  it,  or  even  fifty 
shillings,"  he  replied,  with  an  estimate  perhaps  too  low  of  the 
worth  of  the  British  domestic.  "  If  we  could  choose  a  day 
when  old  Binstock  is  off  duty,  it  would  save  the  biggest 
tip  of  all.  And  it  would  not  matter  what  he  thought 
afterwards,  though  doubtless  he  would  be  in  a  fury." 

"  Oh,  I  won't  do  it.  I  don't  think  I  can  do  it.  It  does 
seem  so  nasty  and  underhanded." 

Coming  now  to  the  practical  part,  Miss  Fox  was  sud- 
denly struck  with  the  objections. 

"My  dear,  I  am  very  glad  that  you  have  come  to  see  it 
in  such  a  proper  light,"  cried  Mrs.  Gilham  a  little  prema- 
turely, while  her  son  nodded  very  sagely,  ready  to  say 
"amen"  to  either  side,  according  to  the  final  jump  of  the 
vacillating  reasoner. 

"  No,  but  I  won't,  then — I  won't  see  it  so.  When  people 
behave  most  improperly  to  you,  are  you  bound  to  stand 
upon  propriety  with  them?  Just  answer  me  that,  if  you 
can,  Mrs.  Gilham.  My  mind  is  quite  settled  by  that  con- 
sideration. I'll  go  in  for  it  wholesale,  Binstock  and  all,  if 


212  PERLYCROSS 

he  means  a  five-pound  note  for  every  stripe  in  his  waist- 
coat." 

"  Mr.  Binstock  is  much  too  grand  to  wear  a  striped 
waistcoat,"  said  Frank,  with  the  gravity  of  one  who  under- 
stands his  subject.  "But  he  goes  to  see  his  parents  every 
Wednesday.  And  he  will  not  be  wronged  in  reality,  for 
it  will  be  worth  all  that  to  him  for  the  rise  he  will  get  by 
his  absence." 

"  Binstock's  parents  ?  Why,  he  must  be  over  sixty !" 
exclaimed  Frank's  mother  in  amazement.  She  had  greatly 
undervalued  her  son's  knowledge. 

"  They  are  both  in  the  poor-house  at  Pumpington,  the 
father  eight-five  and  the  mother  eighty-two.  They  mar- 
ried too  early  in  life,"  said  Frank,  "  and  each  of  their  fif- 
teen children  leaves  the  duty  of  supporting  them  to  the 
other  fourteen.  Our  Binstock  is  the  most  filial  of  the 
whole,  for  he  takes  his  parents  two  ounces  of  tobacco 
every  Wednesday." 

"  The  inhuman  old  miser !"  cried  Miss  Fox.  "  He  shall 
never  have  two  pence  out  of  me.  That  settles  it.  Mr. 
Frank,  try  for  Wednesday." 

"  Well,  Frank,  you  puzzle  me  altogether,"  said  Mrs. 
Gilham,  with  some  annoyance.  "  To  think  of  your  know- 
ing all  those  things,  and  never  telling  vour  own  mother!" 

"I  never  talk  of  my  neighbour's  affairs  until  they  be- 
come my  own  business."  Frank  pulled  up  his  collar,  and 
Christie  said  to  herself  that  his  mind  was  very  large.  "  But 
don't  run  away  with  the  idea,  mother,  that  I  ever  pry  into 
such  small  matters.  I  know  them  by  the  merest  accident. 
You  know  that  the  game -keeper  offers  me  a  day  or  two 
when  the  woodcock  come  in ;  and  Batts  detests  old  Bin- 
stock.  But  he  is  on  the  very  best  terms  with  Charles 
and  Bob  and  Tamar  Haddon.  Through  them  I  can  man- 
age it  perhaps  for  Wednesday,  if  Miss  Fox  thinks  fit  to 
intrust  me  with  the  matter." 

It  happened  that  Lady  Waldron  held  an  important 
council  with  Mr.  Webber  on  the  following  Wednesday. 
She  had  long  begun  to  feel  the  helplessness  and  sad  dis- 
advantages of  her  position  as  a  foreigner  who  had  never 
even  tried  to  understand  the  country  in  which  she  lived, 
or  to  make  friends  of  any  of  the  people  round  her.  And 


FIKE-SHIP    AND    GALLEON  213 

this  left  her  so  much  the  more  at  the  mercy  of  that 
dawdling  old  solicitor. 

"  Oh,  that  I  could  only  find  my  dear  brother !"  was  the 
constant  cry  of  her  sorrow  and  her  wrath.  "I  wonder 
that  he  does  not  rush  to  help  me.  He  would  have  done 
so  long  ago  if  he  had  only  known  of  this." 

"No  reply,  no  reply  yet?"  she  asked,  after  listening 
with  patience  that  surprised  herself  to  the  lawyer's  long 
details  of  nothing,  and  excellent  reasons  for  doing  still 
less.  "Are  you  certain  that  you  have  had  my  demand, 
my  challenge,  my  supplication  to  my  only  brother  entered 
in  all  the  Spanish  journals,  the  titles  of  which  I  supplied 
to  you — and  entered  in  places  conspicuous?" 

"In  every  one  of  them,  madam,  with  instructions  that 
all  replies  should  be  sent  to  the  office  of  the  paper,  and 
then  direct  to  you.  Therefore  you  would  receive  them, 
and  not  our  firm.  Shall  we  try  in  any  other  country  ?" 

"Yes,  oh  yes!  That  is  very  good,  indeed.  I  was  think- 
ing of  that  only  yesterday.  My  brother  has  much  love 
for  Paris  sometimes,  whenever  he  is  in  good — in  afflu- 
ence, as  your  expression  is.  For  I  have  not  concealed 
from  you,  Mr.  Webber,  that  although  of  the  very  first 
families  of  Spain,  the  count  is  not  always — through  ca- 
price of  fortune  his  resources  are  disposed  to  rise  and 
fall.  You  should,  therefore,  try  Paris  and  Lyons  and 
Marseilles.  It  is  not  in  my  power  to  present  the  names 
of  the  principal  journals.  But  they  can  be  discovered 
even  in  this  country." 

Mr.  Webber  was  often  hard  put  to  it  by  the  lady's  calm 
assumption  that  barbarism  is  the  leading  characteristic  of 
an  Englishman.  For  Theodore  Webber  was  no  time-server ; 
only  bound  by  his  duty  to  the  firm,  and  his  sense  of  loyal 
service  to  a  client  of  lofty  memory.  And  he  knew  that 
he  could  take  the  lead  of  any  English  lady,  because  of  her 
knowledge  of  his  character,  and  the  way  in  which  he  pro- 
nounced it.  But  with  this  Spanish  lady  all  his  really  solid 
manner  and  true  English  style  were  thrown  away. 

"  Even  in  this  country,  madam,  we  know  the  names  of 
the  less  enlightened  journals  of  the  Continent.  They  are 
hard  to  read,  because  of  the  miserable  paper  they  are 
printed  on  ;  but  my  younger  son  has  the  gift  of  languages, 


214  PEKLYCROSS 

and  nothing  is  too  outlandish  for  him.  That  also  shall  be 
attended  to.  And  now  about  this  question  that  arises  be- 
tween yourself  and  Mr.  Penniloe  ?" 

"  I  will  not  yield.  I  will  sign  nothing.  Everything 
shall  be  as  my  husband  did  intend.  And  who  can  declare 
what  that  was,  a  stranger,  or  his  own  wife,  with  the  most 
convincing?" 

"  Yes,  madam,  that  is  true  enough.  But  according  to 
English  law,  we  are  bound  by  the  words  of  the  will ;  and 
unless  those  are  doubtful,  no  evidence  of  intention  is  ad- 
missible, and  even  then — " 

"  I  will  not  be  bound  by  a — by  an  adaptation  of  words 
that  was  never  intended.  What  has  a  heretic  minister  to 
do  with  my  family,  and  with  Walderscourt  ?" 

"  But,  madam,  excuse  me.  Sir  Thomas  Waldron  asked 
you,  and  you  consented  to  the  appointment  of  the  Rev. 
Philip  Penniloe,  as  your  coexecutor  and  cotrustee  for 
your  daughter,  Miss  Inez." 

"  If  I  did,  it  was  only  to  please  my  husband,  because 
he  was  in  pain  so  severe.  It  should  have  been  my  broth- 
er, or  else  my  son.  I  have  said  to  you  before,  that  after 
all  that  has  been  done,  I  refuse  to  adhere  to  that  interpre- 
tation." 

The  solicitor  fixed  his  eyes  on  her,  not  in  anger,  but  in 
pure  astonishment.  He  had  deep,  gray  eyes  in  a  rugged 
setting,  with  large  wrinkles  under,  and  dark  gabled  brows 
above ;  and  he  had  never  met  a  lady  yet — except  his  own 
wife — who  was  not  overpowered  by  their  solemn  wisdom. 
Lady  Waldron  was  not  overpowered  by  them.  In  her  ig- 
norance of  English  usage,  she  regarded  this  gentleman  of 
influence  and  trust  as  no  more  than  a  higher  form  of  Bin- 
stock. 

"  I  shall  have  to  throw  it  up,"  said  Mr.  Webber,  to  him- 
self ;  "  but  oh,  what  gorgeous  picking  for  that  very  low- 
principled  Bubb  &  Cockshalt !"  The  eminent  firm  he 
thought  of  thus  were  always  prepared  to  take  anything 
he  missed. 

"  Your  ladyship  is  well  aware,"  he  said,  being  moved 
by  that  last  reflection,  "  that  we  cannot  have  anything 
perfect  in  this  world,  but  must  take  things  as  we  find 
them.  Mr.  Penniloe  is  a  most  reasonable  man,  and  ac- 


FIRE-SHIP    AND    GALLEON  215 

knowledges  the  value  of  my  experience.  He  will  not  act 
in  any  way  against  your  wishes,  so  far  as  may  be  in  con- 
formity with  sound  legal  practice.  That  is  the  great  point 
for  us  to  consider,  laying  aside  all  early  impressions — 
which  are  generally  loose  when  examined — of — of  Con- 
tinental codes,  and  so  on.  We  need  not  anticipate  any 
trouble  from  your  coexecutor,  who  as  a  clergyman  is  to 
us  a  layman,  if  proper  confidence  is  reposed  in  us.  Al- 
ready we  are  taking  the  regular  steps  to  obtain  probate 
of  a  very  simple  will,  prepared  very  carefully  in  our  office, 
and  by  exceedingly  skilful  hands.  We  act  for  Mr.  Pen- 
niloe  as  well  as  for  your  ladyship.  All  is  proceeding 
very  smoothly,  and  exactly  as  your  dear  husband  would 
have  wished." 

"  Then  he  would  have  wished  to  have  his  last  rest  dis- 
honoured, and  his  daughter  estranged  from  her  own 
mother." 

"  The  young  lady  will  probably  come  round,  madam,  as 
soon  as  you  encourage  her.  Your  mind  is  the  stronger 
of  the  two,  in  every  way.  WTith  regard  to  that  sad  and 
shameful  outrage,  we  are  doing  everything  that  can  be 
done.  We  have  very  little  doubt  that  if  matters  are  left 
to  our  judgment  and  discreet  activity — " 

"  Activity,  sir  !  And  what  have  you  done  ?  How  long 
is  it — a  month  ?  I  cannot  reckon  time,  because  day  and 
night  are  the  same  thing  to  me.  Will  you  never  detect 
that  abominable  crime  ?  Will  you  never  destroy  those 
black  miscreants  ?  Will  you  never  restore — oh,  I  cannot 
speak  of  it — and  all  the  time  you  know  who  did  it  all ! 
There  is  no  word  strong  enough  in  your  poor  tongue  for 
such  an  outcast  monster.  Yet  he  goes  about,  he  attends 
to  his  business,  they  shake  him  by  the  hand,  they  smile 
at  him ;  instead  of  spit,  they  smile  at  him  !  And  this  is 
called  a  Christian  land  !  My  God,  what  made  You  make 
it?" 

"  I  implore  your  ladyship  not  to  be  excited.  Hitherto 
you  have  shown  such  self-command.  Day  and  night  we 
are  on  the  watch,  and  something  must  speedily  come  of 
it.  We  have  three  modes  of  action,  each  one  of  them 
sure  to  be  successful,  with  patience.  But  the  point  is 
this :  to  have  no  mistake  about  it,  to  catch  him  with  evi- 


216  PEBLYCEOSS 

dence  sufficient  to  convict  him,  and  then  to  punish  and 
disgrace  him  forever." 

"  But  how  much  longer  before  you  will  begin  ?  I  am 
so  tired,  so  weary,  so  worn  out — can  you  not  see  how  it 
is  destroying  me  ?" 

Mr.  Webber  looked  at  her,  and  could  not  deny  that  this 
was  a  very  different  Lady  Waldron  from  the  one  who  had 
scarcely  deigned  to  bow  to  him  only  a  few  months  ago. 
The  rich  warm  colour  had  left  her  cheeks,  the  large  dark 
eyes  were  wan  and  sunken,  weariness  and  dejection  spread 
where  pride  and  strength  of  will  had  reigned.  The  law- 
yer replied  in  a  bolder  tone  than  he  would  have  employed 
last  summer. 

*'  Lady  Waldron,  we  can  do  no  more.  If  we  attempted 
any  stronger  measures  the  only  result  would  be  to  destroy 
our  chance.  If  you  think  that  any  other  firm,  or  any  kind 
of  agency,  would  conduct  matters  more  to  your  satisfac- 
tion, and  more  effectually  than  we  have  done,  we  would 
only  ask  you  to  place  it  in  their  hands.  I  assure  you, 
madam,  that  the  business  is  not  to  our  liking,  or  even  to 
our  benefit.  For  none  but  an  old  and  most  valued  client 
would  we  have  undertaken  it.  If  you  think  proper,  we 
will  withdraw,  and  hand  over  all  information  very  gladly 
to  our  successors." 

"  To  whom  can  I  go  ?  Who  will  come  to  my  rescue  in 
this  wicked,  impious,  accursed  land?  If  my  brother  were 
here,  is  it  possible  to  doubt  what  he  would  do — how  he 
would  proceed  ?  He  would  tear  that  young  man,  arm 
from  arm,  and  leg  from  leg,  and  lay  him  in  the  market- 
place, and  shoot  any  one  who  came  to  bury  him.  Listen, 
Mr.  Webber,  I  live  only  for  one  thing — to  find  my  noble 
brother,  and  to  see  him  do  that." 

The  lady  stood  up,  with  her  eyebrows  knitted,  her  dark 
eyes  glowing,  and  her  white  hands  thrown  apart  and  quiv- 
ering, evidently  tearing  an  imaginary  Jemmy. 

"  Let  us  hope  for  the  best,  madam,  hope  for  the  best, 
and  pray  for  the  blessing  of  the  Almighty  upon  our  weak 
endeavours." 

This  was  anything  but  a  kind  view  to  take  of  the  dis- 
persion of  poor  Jemmy ;  but  the  lawyer  was  terrified  for 
the  moment  by  the  lady's  vehemence.  That  she,  who  had 


FIRE-SHIP   AND   GALLEON  217 

hitherto  always  shown  such  self-command  and  dignity — 
he  began  to  fear  that  there  was  too  much  truth  in  her  ac- 
count of  the  effect  upon  her. 

Suddenly,  as  if  all  her  passion  had  been  feigned — 
though  none  who  had  seen,  or  even  heard  her,  could 
believe  that  possible  —  she  returned  to  her  tranquil, 
self-possessed,  and  even  cold  and  distant  style.  The 
fire  in  her  eyes,  and  the  fury  of  her  gestures  sank 
and  were  gone,  as  if  by  magic ;  and  the  voice  became 
soft  and  musical,  as  the  sound  of  a  bell  across  a  sum- 
mer sea. 

"  You  will  pardon  me,"  she  said,  as  she  fell  back  into 
the  chair  from  which,  in  her  passion,  she  had  risen  ;  "  but 
sometimes  my  trouble  is  more  great  than  I  can  bear.  La- 
dies of  this  country  are  so  delicate  and  gentle  they  can- 
not have  much  hatred,  because  they  have  no  love.  And 
yet  they  can  have  insolence,  very  strong,  and  very  won- 
derful. Yesterday,  or  two  days  ago,  I  obtained  good 
proof  of  that.  The  sister  of  that  man  is  here — the  man 
who  has  overwhelmed  me  thus — and  she  has  written  a 
letter  to  me,  very  quiet,  very  simple,  very  polite,  requesting 
me  to  appoint  an  interview  for  her  in  my  own  house  " — 
this  had  been  done  on  Monday,  at  the  suggestion  of  Frank 
Gilham,  that  fair  means  should  be  exhausted  first ;  "  but 
after  writing  thus,  she  has  the  insulting  to  put  in  under — 
something  like  this,  I  remember  very  well — *  if  you  refuse 
to  see  me,  I  shall  be  » compelled  to  come  without  permis- 
sion.' Reflect  upon  that,  Mr.  Webber." 

"  Madam,  it  was  not  the  proper  thing  to  say.  But  la- 
dies are,  even  when  very  young,  a  little — perhaps  a  little 
inclined  to  do  what  they  are  inclined  to." 

"  I  sent  her  letter  back,  without  a  word,  by  the  insolent 
person  who  brought  it.  Just  in  the  same  manner  as  her 
wicked  brother's  card.  It  is  quite  certain  that  she  will 
never  dare  to  enter  into  my  presence." 

"  You  have  made  a  mistake  there,  Lady  Waldron.  Here 
I  am,  to  thank  you  for  your  good  manners  ;  and  to  speak 
a  few  truths,  which  you  cannot  answer." 

Christie  Fox  walked  up  the  room,  with  her  eyes  fixed 
steadfastly  upon  the  other's,  made  a  very  graceful  courtesy, 
and  stood,  without  even  a  ribbon  trembling.  She  was 

10 


218  PERLYCKOSS 

beautifully  dressed,  in  dove-coloured  silk,  and  looked  like 
a  dove  that  has  never  been  fluttered.  All  this  Lady  Wal- 
dron  perceived  at  a  glance,  and  knew  that  she  had  met 
her  equal  in  a  brave  young  Englishwoman. 

Mr.  Webber,  who  longed  to  be  far  away,  jumped  about 
with  some  agility,  and  manoeuvred  not  to  turn  his  back 
upon  either  of  the  ladies,  while  he  fetched  a  chair  for  the 
visitor.  But  his  trouble  was  lost,  for  the  younger  lady 
declined  with  a  wave  of  her  hand,  while  the  elder  said, 
"  Sir,  I  will  thank  you  to  ring  the  bell." 

"  That  also  is  vain,"  said  Miss  Fox,  calmly.  "  I  will  not 
leave  this  room,  Lady  Waldron,  until  I  have  told  you  my 
opinion  of  your  conduct.  The  only  question  is — do  you 
wish  to  hear  it  in  the  presence  of  this  gentleman,  or  do 
you  wish  me  to  wait  until  he  is  gone  ?" 

To  all  appearances  the  lawyer  was  by  far  the  most 
nervous  of  the  three ;  and  he  made  off  for  the  door,  but 
received  a  sign  to  stop. 

"It  is  just  as  well,  perhaps,  that  you  should  not  be 
alone,"  Christie  began,  in  a  clear,  firm  voice,  with  her 
bright  eyes  flashing  so  that  the  dark  Spanish  orbs  were  but 
as  dead  coals  in  comparison,  "  and  that  you  should  not  be 
ashamed ;  because  it  proves  at  least  that  you  are  honest 
in  your  lunatic  conclusions.  I  am  not  speaking  rudely. 
The  greatest  kindness  that  any  one  can  do  you  is  to  be- 
lieve that  you  are  mad." 

So  great  was  the  force  of  her  quiet  conviction  that 
Lady  Waldron  raised  one  hand  and  laid  it  upon  her 
throbbing  temples.  For  weeks  she  had  been  sleepless  and 
low  and  feverish,  dwelling  on  her  wrongs  in  solitude,  and 
estranged  from  her  own  daughter. 

"  Hush,  hush,  my  good  young  lady !"  pleaded  the  old 
solicitor ;  but  his  client  gazed  heavily  at  her  accuser,  as  if 
she  could  scarcely  apprehend  ;  and  Christie  thought  that 
she  did  not  care. 

"  You  have  done  a  most  wicked  thing,"  Miss  Fox  con- 
tinued, in  a  lower  tone  ;  "  as  bad,  in  its  way,  as  the  great 
wrong  done  to  you.  You  have  condemned  an  innocent 
man,  ruined  his  life  to  the  utmost  of  your  power,  and  re- 
fused to  let  him  even  speak  for  himself.  Is  that  what  you 
call  justice  ?" 


FIEE-SHIP   AND   GALLEON  219 

"  He  was  not  innocent.  He  was  the  base  miscreant. 
We  have  the  proof  of  the  man  who  saw  him." 

Lady  Waldron  spoke  slowly,  in  a  strange,  dull  tone,  while 
her  lips  scarcely  moved,  and  her  hands  fell  on  her  lap. 

"  There  is  no  such  proof.  The  man  owns  his  mistake. 
My  brother  can  prove  that  he  was  miles  away.  He  was 
called  to  his  father's  sick-bed  that  very  night.  And  be- 
fore daylight  he  was  far  upon  the  road.  He  never  re- 
turned till  days  afterwards.  Then  he  finds  this  black 
falsehood,  and  you  for  its  author  !" 

"  Is  there  any  truth  in  this  ?" 

Lady  Waldron  turned  slightly  towards  Mr.  Webber,  as 
if  she  were  glad  to  remove  her  eyes  from  her  visitor's 
contemptuous  and  overpowering  gaze. 

"  There  may  be  some,  madam.  I  believe  it  is  true  that 
the  blacksmith  has  changed  his  opinion,  and  that  Dr.  Fox 
was  called  suddenly  away." 

The  old  solicitor  was  beginning  to  feel  uneasy  about  his 
own  share  in  the  matter.  He  had  watched  Miss  Fox  in- 
tently through  his  glasses;  and  long  experience  in  law- 
courts  told  him  that  she  thoroughly  believed  every  word 
she  uttered.  He  was  glad  that  he  had  been  so  slow  and 
careful,  and  resolved  to  be  more  so,  if  possible,  hence- 
forth. 

"  And  now  if  you  are  not  convinced  of  the  great  wrong 
you  have  done,"  said  Christie,  coming  nearer,  and  speak- 
ing with  a  soft  thrill  in  her  voice,  for  tears  were  not  far 
distant,  "  what  have  you  to  say  to  this  ?  My  brother, 
long  before  your  husband's  death,  even  before  the  last 
illness,  had  given  his  heart  to  your  daughter  Inez.  Her 
father  more  than  suspected  that,  and  was  glad  to  think  it 
likely.  Inez  also  knew  it  well.  All  this  also  I  can  prove, 
even  to  your  satisfaction.  Is  it  possible,  even  if  he  were 
a  villain,  and  my  brother  is  a  gentleman  of  as  good  a 
family  as  your  own,  Lady  Waldron — ask  yourself,  would 
he  offer  this  dastard  outrage  to  the  father  of  the  girl  he 
loved  ?  If  you  can  believe  it,  you  are  not  a  woman.  And 
that  would  be  better  for  all  other  women.  Oh,  it  is  too 
cruel,  too  atrocious,  too  inhuman !  And  you  are  the  one 
who  has  done  it  all.  Lay  this  to  heart — and  that  you 
may  think  of  it,  I  will  leave  you  to  yourself." 


220  PERLYCROSS 

Brave  as  she  was,  she  could  not  quite  accomplish  this. 
It  is  a  provision  of  Nature  that  her  highest  production 
should  be  above  the  rules  of  inferior  reason  ?  When  this 
fair  young  woman  ceased  to  speak,  and  having  discharged 
her  mission  should  have  walked  away  in  silence — strange 
to  say,  she  could  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  As  if  words 
had  been  her  spring  and  motive  power,  no  sooner  were 
they  exhausted  than  she  herself  broke  down  entirely.  She 
fell  away  upon  the  rejected  chair,  covered  her  face  with 
both  hands,  reckless  of  new  kid  gloves  just  come  from 
Paris,  and  burst  into  a  storm  of  tears  and  sobs. 

"  You  have  done  it  now,"  cried  Mr.  Webber ;  "  I 
thought  you  would  ;  but  you  wouldn't  be  stopped."  He 
began  to  rush  about  helplessly,  not  on  account  of  the 
poor  girl's  plight — for  he  had  wife  and  daughter  of  his 
own,  and  knew  that  tears  are  never  fatal,  but  often  highly 
beneficial.  "  You  have  done  it  now ;  I  thought  you  would." 
His  prophetic  powers  seemed  to  console  him. 

Christie  looked  up  through  her  dabbled  gloves,  and  saw 
a  sight  that  frightened  her.  Lady  Waldron  had  been  sit- 
ting at  a  large  oak  table  covered  with  books  and  papers — 
for  the  room  was  chiefly  used  for  business,  and  not  a  lady's 
bower — and  there  she  sat  still ;  but  with  this  change,  that 
she  had  been  living,  and  now  was  dead.  Dead  to  all  per- 
ception of  the  life  and  stir  around  her,  dead  to  all  sense 
of  right  or  wrong,  of  daylight  or  of  darkness  ;  but  living 
still  to  the  slow  sad  work  that  goes  on  in  the  body  when 
the  mind  is  gone.  Her  head  lay  back  on  the  stout  oak 
rail ;  her  comely  face  showed  no  more  life  than  granite 
has,  or  marble ;  and  her  widow's  hood  dropped  off  and 
shed  the  coils  of  her  long  black  hair  around. 

"  I  can't  make  it  out,"  cried  Mr.  Webber,  hurrying  to 
the  bell-rope,  which  he  pulled  to  such  purpose  that  the 
staple  of  the  crank  fell  from  the  ceiling  and  knocked  him 
on  the  head.  But  Christie,  recovering  at  a  glance,  ran 
round  the  end  of  the  table,  and  with  all  her  strength  sup- 
ported the  tottering  figure. 

What  she  did  afterwards  she  never  knew,  except 
from  the  accounts  of  others ;  for  she  was  too  young  to 
have  presence  of  mind  when  every  one  else  was  dis- 
tracted. But  from  all  that  they  said — and  they  were  all 


FIRE-SHIP    AND    GALLEON  221 

against  her — she  must  have  shown  readiness  and  strength 
and  judgment,  and  taken  Mr.  Webber  under  her  com- 
mand. 

One  thing  she  remembered  because  it  was  so  bitter  and 
so  frightfully  unjust ;  and  if  there  was  anything  she  val- 
ued— next  to  love  and  truth  and  honour,  most  of  which 
are  parts  of  it — Christie  valued  simple  justice  and  impar- 
tiality. To  wit — as  Mr.  Webber  might  have  put  it — when 
she  ran  out  to  find  Mr.  Gilham,  who  had  been  left  there 
only  because  he  did  not  choose  to  go  away,  and  she  only 
went  to  find  him  that  he  might  run  for  Dr.  Gronow — 
there  was  her  brother  standing  with  him,  and  words  less 
friendly  than  usual  were,  as  it  seemed  to  her,  passing 
between  them. 

"  No  time  for  this  sort  of  thing  now,"  she  said,  as  well 
as  her  flurried  condition  would  permit ;  and  then  she 
pulled  her  brother  in,  and  sent  Frank,  who  was  wonder- 
fully calm  and  reasonable,  to  fetch  that  other  doctor,  too. 
Her  brother  was  not  in  a  nice  frame  of  mind,  according 
to  her  recollection,  and  there  was  no  time  to  reason  with 
him,  if  he  chose  to  be  so  stupid.  Therefore  she  sent  him 
where  he  was  wanted,  and  of  course  no  doctor  could  re- 
fuse to  go  under  such  frightful  circumstances.  But  as  for 
herself,  she  felt  as  if  it  mattered  very  little  what  she  did, 
and  so  she  went  and  sat  somewhere  in  the  dark,  without 
even  a  dog  for  company,  and  finished,  with  many  pathetic 
addenda,  the  good  cry  that  had  been  broken  off. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 
A    MAGIC    LETTER 

"  OH,  here  you  are  at  last,  then,  are  you  ?"  said  some- 
body, entering  the  room  with  a  light,  by  the  time  the 
young  lady  had  wept  herself  dry,  and  was  beginning  to 
feel  hungry  ;  "  what  made  you  come  here  ?  I  thought 
you  were  gone.  To  me  it  is  a  surprising  thing  that  you 
have  the  assurance  to  stay  in  this  house." 

"  Oh?  Jemmy,  how  can  you  be  so  cruel,  when  every  bit 
of  it  was  for  you  ?" 

"  For  me,  indeed  !  I  am  very  much  obliged.  For  your 
own  temper,  I  should  say.  Old  Webber  says  that  if  she 
dies  there  may  be  a  verdict  of  manslaughter." 

"  I  don't  care  two  pins  if  there  is,  when  all  the  world 
is  so  unjust  to  me.  But  how  is  she,  Jemmy  ?  What  has 
happened  to  her  ?  What  on  earth  is  it  all  about  ?" 

"  Well,  I  think  you  ought  to  know  that  best.  Webber 
says  he  never  heard  any  one  like  you,  in  all  his  experience 
of  criminal  courts." 

"  Much  I  care  what  he  says — the  old  dodderer  !  You 
should  have  seen  him  hopping  about  the  room  like  a  frog 
with  the  rheumatism.  You  should  have  seen  him  stare 
when  the  bell -rope  fell.  When  I  said  the  poor  thing's 
hands  were  cold,  he  ran  and  poked  the  fire  with  his  spec- 
tacles. But  can't  you  tell  me  how  she  is  ?  Surely  I  have 
a  right  to  know,  if  I  am  to  be  manslaughtered." 

"  Well,"  replied  Dr.  Fox,  with  that  heavy  professional 
nod  which  he  ridiculed  in  others,  "  she  is  in  a  very  pecul- 
iar state.  No  one  can  tell  what  may  come  of  it." 

"  Not  a  fit,  Jemmy  ?  Not  like  dear  father's ;  not  a  mild 
form  of — no,  it  seemed  quite  different." 

"  It  is  a  different  thing  altogether,  though  proceeding 
probably  from  the  brain  ;  an  attack  of  what  we  call  cata- 


A    MAGIC    LETTER  223 

lepsy ;  not  at  all  a  common  thing,  and  quite  out  of  my 
own  experience,  though  I  know  of  it  from  the  books  a 
little.  Gronow  knew  of  it,  of  course,  at  a  glance.  Fortu- 
nately I  had  sense  enough  not  to  try  any  strong  measures 
till  he  came.  Any  other  young  fellow  in  this  part  of  the 
world  would  have  tried  venesection  instantly,  and  it  might 
have  killed  her.  My  treatment  happened  to  be  quite 
right  from  my  acquaintance  with  principles.  It  is  noth- 
ing less  than  a  case  of  entirely  suspended  animation  ; 
how  long  it  may  last  none  can  foretell." 

"  But  you  don't  think  it  will  kill  her,  Jemmy  ?  Why, 
ray  animation  was  suspended  ever  so  long  the  other 
day—" 

"  That  was  quite  a  different  thing — this  proceeds  from 
internal  action,  overpowering  emotion  in  a  very  anaemic 
condition  ;  yours  was  simply  external  concussion,  operat- 
ing on  a  rather  highly  charged — " 

"  You  are  very  polite.  My  own  fault,  in  fact.  Who 
gave  me  the  horse  to  drive  about  ?  But  surely  if  a  dis- 
ordered brain  like  mine  contrives  to  get  right  again — " 

"  Christie,  I  wish  to  do  you  good.  You  have  brought 
me  into  a  frightful  mess,  because  you  are  so  headlong ; 
but  you  meant  it  for  the  best,  I  know,  and  I  must  not  be 
too  hard  upon  you." 

"  What  else  have  you  been  for  the  last  five  minutes  ? 
Oh,  Jemmy,  Jemmy,  I  am  so  sorry  !  Give  me  a  kiss,  and 
I  will  forgive  you." 

"  You  are  a  very  quick,  warm-hearted  girl,  and  such 
have  never  too  much  reason." 

The  doctor  kissed  his  sister  in  a  most  magnanimous 
manner,  and  she  believed  implicitly  (until  the  next  time 
of  argument)  that  she  had  done  the  injury,  and  her 
brother  sweetly  borne  it. 

"Now  come,  while  it  is  hot,"  said  he ;  "get  your  courage 
up,  and  come.  Never  let  a  wound  grow  cold.  Between 
you  two  there  must  be  no  ill-will ;  and  she  is  so  noble." 

"  Oh,  indeed  !  Who  is  it  then  ?  It  is  so  good  and  so 
elevating  to  be  brought  into  contact  with  those  wonder- 
fully lofty  people." 

"  It  is  exactly  what  you  want.  If  you  can  only  obtain 
her  friendship,  it  will  be  the  making  of  your  character." 


224  PEBLYCKOSS 

"  For  goodness'  sake  don't  lose  a  moment ;  I  feel  my- 
self already  growing  better,  nobler,  loftier." 

"  There  is  nothing  in  you  grave  and  stable,  none  of  the 
stronger  elements,"  said  the  doctor,  as  he  led  the  way 
along  an  empty  passage. 

"  Don't  you  be  too  sure  of  that,"  his  sister  answered, 
in  a  tone  which  he  remembered  afterwards. 

Lady  Waldron  lay  on  a  broad  and  solid  sofa,  well-pre- 
pared for  her,  and  there  was  no  sign  left  of  life  or  move- 
ment in  her  helpless  figure.  She  was  not  at  all  like  "  re- 
cumbent marble  " — which  is  the  ghost  of  death  itself — 
neither  was  she  stiff  or  straight,  but  simply  still,  and  in 
such  a  condition  that,  however  any  part  of  her  frame 
might  be  placed,  so  it  would  remain ;  submissive  only  to 
the  laws  of  gravitation,  and  to  no  exercise  of  will,  if  will 
were  yet  surviving.  The  face  was  as  pale  as  death,  the 
eyes  half  open  but  without  expression,  the  breathing 
scarcely  perceptible,  and  the  pulse  like  the  flutter  of  eider- 
down, or  gossamer  in  a  sheltered  spot. 

There  was  nothing  ghastly,  repulsive,  or  even  greatly 
distressing  at  first  sight ;  for  the  fine  and  almost  perfect 
face  had  recovered,  in  placid  abandonment,  the  beauty  im- 
paired by  grief  and  passion.  And  yet  the  dim  uncertainty, 
the  hovering  between  life  and  death,  the  touching  frailty 
of  human  power,  overtried  and  vanquished,  might  move 
the  bitterest  foe  to  tears,  and  waken  the  compassion 
planted  in  all  human  hearts  by  Heaven. 

Christie  was  no  bitter  foe,  but  a  kind,  impulsive,  gen- 
erous maiden,  rushing  at  all  hazards  to  defend  the  right, 
ready  to  bite  the  dust  when  in  the  wrong,  if  properly  con- 
vinced of  it.  Jemmy  stepped  back  and  spread  forth  his 
hand  more  dramatically  than  was  needed,  as  much  as  to 
say,  "  See  what  you  have  done  !  Never  forget  this  while 
you  live.  I  leave  you  to  self-abasement." 

The  sensitive  and  impetuous  girl  required  no  such  ad- 
monishment. She  fell  on  her  knees  and  took  one  cold 
hand,  while  her  face  turned  as  pale  as  the  one  she  watched. 
The  pity  of  the  sight  became  more  vivid,  deep,  and  over- 
powering, and  she  whispered  her  little  bedside  prayer,  for 
that  was  the  only  one  she  recalled  ;  then  she  followed  it 
up  with  confession. 


A    MAGIC    LETTER  225 

"  I  know  what  ought  to  be  done  to  me.  I  ought  to  be 
taken  by  the  neck — no,  that's  not  right — I  ought  to  be 
taken  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  there  hanged  by  the 
neck,  till  I  am  dead,  dead,  dead." 

All  this  she  may  have  deserved,  but  what  she  got  was 
very  different. 

Around  her  bended  neck  was  flung  no  hangman's 
noose,  but  a  gentle  arm,  the  softest  and  loveliest  ever  felt, 
while  dark  eyes  glistened  into  her  own,  and  seeming  to 
be  encouraged  there,  came  closer  through  a  clustering 
bower;  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell,  two  fair 
young  faces  touched  each  other,  and  two  quick  but  heavy 
hearts  were  throbbing  very  close  together. 

"  It  is  more  my  fault  than  yours,"  said  Nicie,  leading 
the  way  to  another  room,  when  a  few  soft  words  of  com- 
fort and  good-will  had  passed ;  "  I  am  the  one  who  has 
done  all  this ;  and  Dr.  Gronow  says  so — or  at  least  he 
would,  if  he  said  what  he  thinks.  It  was  the  low  condi- 
tion caused  by  long  and  lonely  thinking  and  the  want  of 
sufficient  food  and  air,  and  the  sense  of  having  no  one, 
not  even  rne." 

"But  that  was  her  fault.  She  discouraged  you,  she 
showed  no  affection  for  you ;  she  was  even  very  angry 
with  you,  because  you  dared  to  think  differently,  because 
you  had  noble  faith  and  trust." 

"  For  that  I  deserve  no  credit,  because  I  could  not  help  it. 
But  I  might  have  been  kinder  to  her,  Christie ;  I  might  have 
shown  less  pride  and  temper.  I  might  have  said  to  myself 
more  often,  *  she  is  sadly  shattered,  and  she  is  my  mother.' 
It  will  teach  me  how  to  behave  another  time.  For  if  she  does 
not  get  well  and  forgive  me,  I  shall  never  forgive  myself. 
I  must  have  forgotten  how  much  easier  it  is  to  be  too  hard 
than  to  be  too  soft." 

"  Probably  you  never  thought  about  it,"  said  Christie, 
who  knew  a  great  deal  about  what  were  then  called  "  the 
mental  processes" — now  gone  into  much  bigger  names, 
but  the  same  nut  in  a  harder  shell.  "  You  acted  accord- 
ing to  your  senses  of  right ;  and  that  meant  what  you  felt 
was  right ;  and  that  came  round  to  mean — Jemmy." 

Nicie,  who  never  examined  her  mind — perhaps  the  best 
thing  to  be  done  with  it — was  not  quite  satisfied  with  this 
10* 


226  PERLYCKOSS 

abruptly  concrete  view   of  the  issue.     "  Perhaps   I  did," 
she  said,  and  sighed,  because  everything  felt  so  cloudy. 

"Whatever  you  did  —  you  are  a  darling,"  said  the 
more  experienced  one.  "  There  is  a  lot  of  trouble  before 
us  both.  Never  mind,  if  we  only  stick  together.  Poor 
Jemmy  believes  that  he  is  a  wonder.  Between  us  we  will 
fetch  him  down." 

Nicie  could  perceive  no  call  for  that,  being  as  yet  of 
less  practical  turn.  She  was  of  that  admirable,  and  too 
rare,  and  yearly  diminishing,  type  of  women  who  see  and 
feel  that  Heaven  meant  them,  not  to  contend  with  and 
outdo,  but  to  comfort,  purify,  and  ennoble  that  stronger, 
coarser,  and  harder  half,  called  men. 

"I  think  that  he  wants  fetching  up,"  she  said,  with  very 
graceful  timidity ;  "  but  his  sister  must  know  best,  of 
course.  Is  it  right  to  talk  of  such  things  now  ?" 

"  Decidedly  not,"  Miss  Fox  replied.  "  In  fact,  it  is 
downright  wicked ;  but  somehow  or  other  I  always  go 
astray.  Whenever  I  am  out  of  sorts  with  myself  I  take 
a  turn  at  other  people.  But  how  many  turns  must  I  have 
at  others  before  I  get  my  balance  now !  Did  you  ever 
see  anything  so  sad  ?  But  how  very  beautiful  she  is  !  I 
never  noticed  it  this  afternoon,  because  I  was  in  such  a 
rage,  I  suppose.  How  long  is  she  likely  to  remain  like 
this  ?" 

"  Dr.  Gronow  cannot  say.  He  has  known  one  case 
which  lasted  for  a  month.  But  then  there  was  no  con- 
sciousness at  all.  He  thinks  that  there  is  a  little  now. 
But  we  can  perceive  no  sign  of  it." 

"  Well,  I  think  I  did.  I  am  almost  sure  I  did,"  Christie 
answered, eagerly ;  "when  I  said  *  dead,  dead,  dead,'  in  that 
judicial  manner,  there  came  a  little  gleam  of  light  into  her 
eyes  as  if  she  approved  of  the  sentence.  And  again,  when 
you  called  me  your  sister,  there  seemed  to  be  a  sparkle  of 
astonishment,  as  if  she  thought  you  were  in  too  much  of  a 
hurry ;  and  perhaps  you  were,  my  darling.  Oh,  what  a 
good  judge  Jemmy  is !  No  wonder  he  is  getting  so  con- 
ceited." 

"  If  there  is  any  consciousness  at  all,"  said  Nicie, 
avoiding  that  other  subject,  "this  trance  (if  that  is  the 
English  word  for  it)  will  not  last  long,  at  least,  Dr.  Gro- 


A   MAGIC    LETTER  227 

now  says  so,  and  Dr.  Jemmy — what  a  name  for  a  gen- 
tleman of  science  ! — thoroughly  confirms  it.  But  Dr. 
Fox  is  so  diffident  and  modest  that  he  seems  to  wait  for 
his  friend's  opinion ;  though  he  must  know  more,  being 
younger." 

"  Certainly  he  ought,"  Miss  Fox  replied,  with  a  twinkle 
of  dubious  import ;  "  I  hear  a  great  deal  of  such  things. 
No  medical  man  is  ever  at  his  prime,  unless  it  is  at  thirty- 
nine  years  and  a  half.  Under  forty  he  can  have  no  ex- 
perience, according  to  the  general  public ;  and  over  forty 
he  is  on  the  shelf,  according  to  his  profession.  For  that 
one  year  they  ought  to  treble  all  their  fees." 

"  That  would  only  be  fair,  for  they  always  charge  too 
little." 

"You  are  an  innocent  duck,"  said  Christie.  "There 
is  a  spot  on  your  cheek  that  I  must  kiss,  because  it  al- 
ways comes  when  you  hear  the  name  of  Jemmy.  Ab- 
stract affection  for  unknown  science.  Oh,  do  have  a  try 
at  Dr.  Gronow.  He  knows  fifty  times  as  much  as  poor 
Jemmy." 

"  But  he  doesn't  know  how  to  please  me,"  replied 
Nicie  ;  "  and  I  suppose  that  ought  to  count  for  some- 
thing, after  all.  I  must  go  and  tell  him  what  you 
thought  you  saw.  That  is  his  step  in  the  passage  now, 
and  he  ordered  us  to  watch  for  any  symptoms  of  that 
sort.  Oh,  what  will  he  think  of  me  for  leaving  nurse 
alone?  Good-night,  dear  Christie;  I  shall  come  away  no 
more.  But  Binstock,  our  great  man,  is  come  back;  he 
will  attend  to  you,  and  see  that  you  don't  go  home  starv- 
ing, or  by  yourself." 

"  Positive  statements  suit  young  men,"  Dr.  Gronow  de- 
clared, as  he  buttoned  up  his  coat  about  an  hour  after- 
wards ;  "  and  so  does  sitting  up  all  night.  Fox,  you  had 
better  act  up  to  that.  But  I  shall  just  see  your  sister 
safe  as  far  as  the  hospitable  White  Post,  and  then  I  shall 
go  home  to  my  supper.  There  is  not  the  slightest  dan- 
ger now,  but  constant  attention  is  needful,  in  case  of 
sudden  revival.  That  I  do  not  at  all  expect;  but  you 
know  what  to  do  if  it  happens.  The  third  day  will  be 
the  most  likely  time ;  and  then  any  pleasing  excitement, 
or  attraction — but  I  shall  be  here,  and  see  to  that." 


228  PERLYCEOSS 

"  Oh,  Dr.  Gronow,"  exclaimed  Miss  Fox,  as  she  fastened 
her  cloak  to  go  with  him,  "  how  1  wish  I  had  been  born 
a  little  sooner,  to  see  you  more  positive  than  you  are 
now  !" 

"Miss  Fox,  it  is  a  happy  thing  for  me  that  I  anticipated 
all  such  views.  Young  ladies,  I  meant  of  course — and  not 
young  men.  Yet,  alas,  the  young  ladies  are  too  negative." 

On  the  third  day  from  Lady  Waldron's  seizure,  the 
postman  of  the  name  of  Walker,  finding  not  even  a  mush- 
room left  to  retard  the  mail-delivery,  and  having  a  cold 
north  wind  at  his  back,  brought  to  the  house  soon  after 
noon  a  very  large  letter,  marked  "  Ship  Despatch.  Two 
shillings  and  tenpence  to  pay,"  and  addressed  to  Lady 
Waldron. 

"  It  must  be  from  dear  Tom,"  pronounced  Nicie  ;  "  we 
have  not  heard  from  him  since  he  sailed  for  India.  There 
is  no  other  person  in  the  world  capable  of  such  a  fright- 
ful scrawl." 

"Why,  this  is  the  very  thing  we  want,"'  said  Gronow, 
who  was  present  according  to  promise ;  "  large,  conspic- 
uous, self  -  assertive.  Let  somebody  fetch  me  a  green 
flower-stick." 

Slitting  one  end  of  the  stick,  he  inserted  the  lower  edge 
of  the  letter,  and  fixed  it  upright  in  the  scroll-work  at  the 
bottom  of  the  couch.  Then  he  drew  the  curtain  back,  and 
a  slant  of  cheerful  sunshine  broke  upon  the  thick,  bold 
writing.  But  the  figure  on  the  couch  lay  still,  without  a 
sign  of  interest,  cold,  rigid,  and  insensible. 

"  I'll  keep  out  of  sight,"  the  doctor  whispered,  "  and 
let  no  one  say  a  word.  But  presently,  when  I  hold  my 
hand  up,  let  Miss  Nicie  strike  a  few  notes,  not  too  rap- 
idly, on  her  guitar — some  well-known  Spanish  melody." 

Gliding  round  the  back  of  the  couch,  with  a  very  gentle 
touch  he  raised  the  unconscious  lady's  head  and  propped 
it  with  a  large  firm  pillow,  so  that  the  dim  half-open  eyes 
were  level  with  and  set  point-blank  upon  the  shining  let- 
ter. Securing  it  so,  he  withdrew  a  little,  and  held  up  his 
hand  to  Nicie. 

She,  upon  a  low  chair  farther  off,  touched  the  strings 
of  her  mother's  own,  and  in  younger  days,  much  loved 
guitar;  gently  at  first,  like  a  distant  ripple,  then  with  a 


A    MAGIC    LETTER  229 

strong,  bold  swell  arising  into  a  grand  melodious  strain — 
the  "  March  of  Andalusia."  All  present  held  their  breath 
to  watch,  and  saw  a  strange  and  moving  sight. 

The  Spanish  lady's  eyes  began  to  fill  with  soft  and 
quivering  light,  like  a  lake  when  the  moon  is  rising ;  the 
fringe  of  their  dark  lashes  rose ;  a  little  smile  played  on 
her  lips,  and  touched  them  with  a  living  tint ;  then  all  the 
brilliance  of  her  gaze  flashed  forth  and  fastened  on  that 
letter.  She  lifted  both  her  trembling  hands,  and  the  let- 
ter was  put  into  them.  Her  face  was  light  with  vivid  joy, 
and  her  lips  pronounced,  "  My  son,  my  son  !"  Then  want- 
ing nothing  more,  she  drew  the  precious  token  to  her 
breast,  concealed  it  there,  and  sank  into  profound  and 
tranquil  and  sweet  sleep. 

"  She  will  be  all  right  when  she  awakes,  and  then  she 
will  want  a  lot  of  food,"  said  Dr.  Gronow,  with  a  quiet 
grin,  while  Nicie  and  Chris  wept  tears  of  joy,  and  Dr.  Fox 
and  the  nurse  looked  queer.  "  Mind,  she  can't  live  on  her 
son's  letter.  Beef-tea,  arrowroot,  and  port-wine,  leg-of- 
mutton  gravy,  and  neat's-foot  jelly — finer  than  the  sweet- 
est sweetheart's  letters,  let  alone  a  boy  who  writes  with 
the  stump  of  a  cigar.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  my  job  is 
over ;  what  a  blessing  Penniloe  is  gone  to  London  !  We 
should  have  had  a  prayer-meeting  every  day.  Miss  Fox, 
I  think  I  shall  call  you  '  Christie,'  because  you  are  so  un- 
christian." 

"  You  may  call  me  anything  you  like — that  is,  so  long 
as  it  is  something  you  do  like.  I  shall  almost  begin  to 
have  faith  in  doctors  now,  in  spite  of  poor  Jemmy  being 
one." 

"Jemmy,  you  had  better  throw  up  the  trade.  Your 
sister  understands  it  best.  The  hardest  work,  and  the 
hardest  paid — however,  I  go  a  trout -fishing,  ere  ever  the 
river  freezes." 

The  wind  was  very  cold,  and  everybody  there  shivered 
at  the  shudders  he  would  have  to  undergo,  as  they  saw 
him  set  forth  with  an  eager  step.  He  waved  his  hand 
back  from  a  turn  of  the  walk  which  reminded  him  of  the 
river,  and  his  shoulders  went  up  as  if  he  had  a  trout  on 
hook. 

"  He  is  happy.     Let  him  be,"  said  the  percipient  Chris- 


230  PERLYCKOSS 

tie ;  "  he  won't  catch  anything  in  fact,  but  the  miraculous 
draught  in  fancy." 

"  He  ought  to  be  pitched  in,"  replied  her  brother,  who 
was  put  out  about  something,  possibly  the  fingering  of 
the  second  fiddle ;  "  the  least  that  can  be  done  to  him  is 
to  pitch  him  in  for  trying  to  catch  trout  in  December. 
Pike  had  vowed  to  do  it ;  but  those  fellows  are  gone 
home,  Hopper  and  all,  just  when  the  world  was  most  in 
want  of  them.  Christie,  you  will  just  come  back  with  me 
to  the  Old  Barn." 

"  Why  does  Dr.  Gronow  address  nearly  all  his  very  ex- 
cellent remarks  to  me  ?  And  why  does  he  always  look  at 
me  when  he  speaks?" 

"  Because  you  are  so  pretty,  dear.  And  because  you 
catch  his  meaning  first.  They  like  that  sort  of  thing," 
said  Nicie. 

"  For  looks  I  am  nowhere,  with  Nicie  present.  But  he 
sees  advanced  intelligence  in  me.  And  he  comes  from 
where  they  appreciate  it.  I  shall  go  back  to  Old  Barn 
just  when  I  think  right." 

"  We  are  coming  to  something !"  cried  Dr.  Jemmy, 
who  looked  pleasantly  but  loftily  at  all  the  female  race 
— save  Nicie,  who  was  saved,  perhaps,  till  two  months 
after  marriage — "  stay,  if  you  like,  where  you  are  appre- 
ciated so  highly — so  very  highly." 

Christie's  face  became  red  as  a  rose,  for  really  this  was 
too  bad  on  his  part,  and  after  all  she  had  done  for  him, 
as  witnessed  those  present. 

"  They  like  me,"  she  said,  in  an  off-handed  manner ;  "  and 
I  like  them — which  is  more  than  one  can  do  to  everybody. 
But  it  makes  very  little  difference,  I  am  afraid,  for  I  shall 
never  see  them  any  more  unless  they  come  to  Foxden.  I 
had  made  up  my  mind  to  go  home  the  moment  Lady 
Waldron  was  out  of  danger.  I  did  not  come  here  to 
please  myself,  and  this  is  all  I  get  for  it.  Good-bye  to 
fair  Perlycross  to-morrow  !  One  must  not  neglect  one's 
dear  father  and  mother,  even  for — even  for  such  a  dear 
as  Nicie." 

"  Well,  I  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be  out  of  temper." 
There  was  much  truth  in  this  assertion,  though  it  seems 
a  large  one,  for  Jemmy  Fox  had  a  remarkably  sweet 


A   MAGIC    LETTER  231 

temper ;  and  a  man  who  takes  stock  of  himself,  when 
short  of  that  article,  has  already  almost  replaced  it.  "  But 
how  will  you  go,  my  dear  little  Cayenne  pepper  ?  Will 
you  pack  up  all  your  grandeur,  and  have  a  coach-and- 
four  ?" 

"  Yes,  that  I  will,"  answered  Christie,  quick  as  light, 
"though  it  won't  cost  me  quite  as  much  as  the  one  I  hired 
when  I  came  post-haste  to  your  rescue.  The  name  of  my 
coach  is  the  *  Defiance ;'  and  the  guard  shall  play  *  Roast- 
beef  '  all  the  way,  in  honour  of  the  coming  Christmas- 
time. Won't  we  have  a  fine  time  at  Foxden  if  father  is 
in  good  health  again  ?" 

Jemmy  wisely  left  her  to  her  own  devices — for  she  gen- 
erally "  took  the  change  out  of  him  " — and  consoled  him- 
self with  soft  contemplation  of  a  lovelier,  nicer,  and  (so 
far  as  he  knew  yet)  ten  thousand  times  sweeter-tempered 
girl,  whose  name  was  Nicie  Waldron. 

Now  that  sweet  creature  had  a  worry  of  her  own, 
though  she  did  not  afflict  the  public  with  it.  She  was 
dying  with  anxiety  all  the  time  to  know  the  contents  of 
her  brother  Tom's  letter,  which  had  so  enlivened  her  dear 
mother. 

It  is  said  that  the  only  thing  the  all-wise  Solomon  could 
not  explain  to  the  Queen  of  Sheba  was  the  process  of  her 
own  mind,  or  rather,  perhaps,  the  leaps  of  it,  which  landed 
her  in  conclusions  quite  correct,  yet  unsupported  even  by 
the  shadow  of  an  enthymeme.  Miss  Waldron  was  not  so 
clever  as  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  or  even  as  Miss  Christie 
Fox  ;  yet  she  had  arrived  at  a  firm  conviction  that  the  one 
who  was  destined  to  solve  the  sad  and  torturing  question 
about  her  dear  father  was  no  other  than  her  brother,  Tom 
Rodrigo.  She  had  observed  that  his  letter  bore  no  token 
of  the  family  bereavement,  neither  was  that  to  be  ex- 
pected yet,  although  six  weeks  had  now  elapsed  since  the 
date  of  their  sore  distress. 

Envelopes  were  not  as  yet  in  common  use,  and  a  letter 
was  a  cumbrous  and  clumsy-looking  thing,  one  of  the 
many  reasons  being  that  a  writer  was  bound  by  economy, 
and  very  often  by  courtesy  as  well,  to  fill  three  great 
pages  before  he  began  to  double  in.  This  naturally  led 
to  a  vast  sprawl  of  words,  for  the  most  part  containing 


232  PEKLYCROSS 

very  little;  and  "what  shall  I  say  next?"  was  the  con- 
stant inquiry  of  even  the  most  loving  correspondent. 
Nicie  knew  well  that  her  brother  was  not  gifted  with  the 
pen  of  a  ready  writer,  and  that  all  his  heart  indited  of 
was,  "  what  shall  I  put  to  get  done  with  it  ?"  This  in- 
creased the  value  of  his  letters  (by  means  of  their  rarity) 
and  also  their  interest,  according  to  the  canon  that  plenty 
of  range  should  be  allowed  for  the  reader's  imagination. 

But  now  even  too  much  range  was  left  for  that  of  the 
affectionate  and  poetic  maiden,  inasmuch  as  her  mother 
lay  asleep  for  hours  with  this  fine  communication  to  sup- 
port her  heart.  There  was  nothing  for  Nicie  to  do  ex- 
cept to  go  to  sleep  patiently  on  her  own  account,  and  that 
she  did  in  her  own  white  bed,  and  saw  a  fair  vision  through 
tears  of  joy. 

Behold,  she  was  standing  at  the  door,  the  sacred  portal 
of  Walderscourt,  gazing  at  trees  that  were  full  of  singing 
birds,  with  her  milk-white  pony  cropping  clover  honey- 
sweet,  and  Pixie  teetotuming  after  his  own  tail.  All  the 
air  was  blossoming  with  dance  of  butterflies,  and  all  the 
earth  was  laughing  at  the  flatteries  of  the  sun.  And  be- 
hold a  very  tall  form  arose  from  beyond  the  weeping  wil- 
low, leading  a  form  yet  taller,  and  looking  back  for  fear  of 
losing  it.  Then  a  loud  voice  shouted,  and  it  was  brother 
Tom's,  "Here  he  is  at  last!  No  mistake  about  it.  I 
have  found  the  governor — hurrah,  hurrah !"  The  maiden 
sprang  up  with  a  bounding  heart  to  embrace  her  darling 
father.  But,  alas,  there  was  nothing  except  the  cold  moon 
and  a  pure  virgin  bosom  that  glistened  with  tears. 

When  Tom's  letter  came  to  the  reading  at  last,  there 
was  plenty  of  blots  in  it  and  brown  sand,  but  not  a 
blessed  bit  of  poetry.  The  youth  had  been  at  Eton,  and 
exhausted  there  all  the  tendency  of  his  mind  towards  me- 
tre. Even  now  people  who  ought  to  know  better  ask 
why  poetry  will  not  go  down  with  the  tall  and  imaginative 
and  romantic  public.  It  must  be  from  the  absence  of  the 
spark  divine  among  them.  Nay,  rather  because  ere  they 
could  spell  their  flint  was  fixed  for  life  with  the  "fire" 
used  up  by  classic  hammer. 

Of  these  things  the  present  Sir  Thomas  Rodrigo  Wal- 
dron  had  neither  thought  nor  heed.  For  him  it  was  enough 


A    MAGIC    LETTER  233 

to  be  released ;  and  the  less  he  saw  of  book  and  pen  for  the 
rest  of  his  natural  life  the  better  for  the  book,  the  pen, 
and  him.  So  that  on  the  whole  he  deserved  much  credit, 
and  obtained  even  more  (from  his  mother)  as  the  author 
of  the  following  fine  piece  of  correspondence ;  though 
all  the  best  bits  were  adapted  from  a  book  entitled  "  The 
young  man's  polite  letter-writer,  to  his  parents,  sisters, 
sweethearts,  friends,  and  the  minister  of  his  native  parish, 
etc.,  etc. — also  when  applying  for  increase  of  wages." 

"' Valetta,  in  the  Island  of  Malta,  Mediterranean  Sea,  etc. 
November  the  5th,  also  Guy  Fawkes'  Day,  A.D.  1835. 

"  *  MY    BELOVED    AND    RESPECTED     MOTHER, I  take    Up 

my  pen  with  mingled  feelings  of  affection  and  regret. 
The  bangs  " — oh,  he  ought  to  say  "  pangs,"  thought  Nicie, 
as  her  mother  read  it  on  most  gravely — "  which  I  have 
suffered,  and  am  suffering  still,  arise  from  various  sources. 
Affection,  because  of  your  unceasing  and  unmerited  pa- 
rental goodness ;  regret,  because  absence  in  a  foreign  land 
enhances  by  a  hundred-fold  the  value  of  all  those  lost  en- 
dearments. I  hope  that  you  will  think  of  me,  whenever 
you  sit  on  the  old  bench  by  the  door,  and  behold  the  sun 
setting  in  the  east.'  " 

"It  is  very  beautiful,"  said  Lady  Waldron,  animated  by 
a  cup  of  strong  beef -tea ;  "  but  Rodrigo  was  so  hard  to  kiss. 
Very  often  I  have  knocked  my  head — but  he  is  competent 
to  feel  it  in  his  own  head  now." 

"  Mother,  there  is  no  bench  by  the  door.  And  how  can 
the  sun  set  in  the  east  ?  Oh,  I  see,  it  was  '  west,'  and  he  has 
scratched  it  out,  because  of  his  being  in  the  East  himself." 

"That  means  the  same  thing,"  replied  Lady  Waldron. 
"  Inez,  if  you  intend  to  find  fault  with  your  dear  brother's 
letter  about  such  trifles  you  deserve  to  hear  no  more  of  it." 

"  Mother,  as  if  it  made  any  difference  where  the  sun 
sets,  so  long  as  he  can  see  it !" 

"  He  always  had  large  thoughts,"  reflected  his  mother ; 
"he  is  not  of  this  cold  geography.  Harken  how  beauti- 
fully he  proceeds  to  write — 

"  *  But  it  is  vain  to  indulge  these  contemplations. 
Thanks  to  your  careful  tuition,  and  the  lofty  example  set 


234  PEKLYCROSS 

before  me,  I  trust  that  I  shall  never  be  found  wanting  in 
my  duty  to  the  country  that  gave  me  birth.  Unfortunately 
in  these  foreign  parts,  the  price  of  every  article  is  exces- 
sive ;  and  although  I  am  guided,  as  you  are  well  aware,  by 
the  strictest  principles  of  economy,  my  remembrance  of 
what  is  due  to  you,  and  the  position  of  a  highly  respected 
family,  have  in  some  degree  necessitated  an  anticipation 
of  resources.  Feeling  assured  of  your  sympathy,  and  that 
it  will  assume  a  practical  form  by  return  of  post,  I  vent- 
ure to  state  for  your  guidance  that  the  house  of  Plumper, 
Wiggins  &  Golightly  in  this  city  have  been  advised,  and 
have  consented  to  receive  on  my  behalf  a  remittance  of 
£120,  which  will,  I  trust,  appear  a  very  reasonable  sum.'  " 

"Mother,  dear  mother,  let  me  go  on,"  cried  Nicie,  as 
the  letter  dropped  from  her  mother's  hand;  "the  pleasure 
and  excitement  have  been  too  much  for  you,  although  the 
style  is  so  excellent." 

"  It  is  not  the  style,  but  my  breath  has  been  surprised 
by — by  the  expressions  of  that  last  sentence.  The  sum 
that  I  myself  placed  to  his  credit,  out  of  my  bonds  of  the 
City  of  Corduba,  was  in  addition,  and  without  his  father's 
knowledge — but  no  doubt  he  will  give  explanation  more  fur- 
ther down  ;  though  the  writing  appears  now  to  become  of  a 
different  kind,  shorter  and  less  polished.  But  why  is  he  in 
Malta,  when  the  ship  sailed  for  Bombay  ?  Oh,  I  am  terri- 
fied, there  will  be  some  war.  The  English  can  never  stay 
without  fighting  very  long.  And,  behold,  his  letter  seems 
to  go  into  three  pieces!  See  now,  it  is  quite  crooked, 
Inez,  and  of  less  correction.  Nevertheless,  I  approve  more 
of  it  so.  Listen  again,  child. 

" « I  was  almost  forgetting  to  say  that  we  were  mett  be- 
fore we  had  got  very  far  on  our  way  by  a  Despatch  Vessle 
bringing  urgent  orders  for  all  of  the  Draught  to  be  sent  to 
this  place,  which  is  not  half  so  hot  as  the  other  place 
would  be,  and  much  more  convenient  and  healthy  but  too 
white.  But  it  does  make  the  money  fly,  and  they  are  a 
jolley  sett.  I  have  long  been  wanting  to  write  home, 
but  waited  until  there  was  some  news  to  tell,  and 
we  could  tell  where  we  are  going  next.  But  we  shall 
have  to  stay  here  for  some  time,  because  most  of  our 


A   MAGIC    LETTER  235 

things  were  sent  to  West  Indies,  and  the  other  part 
went  on  to  East  India.  It  will  all  be  for  the  best  because 
so  strong  a  change  of  climate  will  be  almost  certain  to 
destroy  the  moths.  I  have  bought  three  dogs.  There  is 
a  new  sort  here,  very  clever,  and  can  almost  speak.  I  hope 
all  the  dogs  at  home  are  well.  I  miss  the  shooting  very 
much,  and  there  are  no  horses  in  the  Mediterranean  big 
enough  to  carry  me.  Now  I  must  conclude  with  best  love 
and  duty  to  the  Governor  and  you  and  Nicie  and  old  nurse 
Sweetland,  and  anybody  else  who  inquires  for 

u<  remaining  your  affectionate  and  dutiful  Son, 

"  '  TOM  R.  WALDRON. 

«<p.  S.  —  Your  kind  letter  of  Aug.  30th  just  come. 
They  must  be  very  clever  to  have  found  us  here.  I  am 
dredfully  cutt  up  to  hear  dear  Governor  not  at  all 
well  when  you  wrote.  Shall  hope  for  better  news  every 
day.  There  is  a  Greek  gentleman  here  with  a  pill  war- 
anted  to  cure  everything  yet  discovered.  They  are  as 
large  as  yellow  sluggs,  and  just  the  same  shape.  He  will 
let  me  have  10  for  my  amathist  studds  which  are  no  good 
to  me.  Shall  try  to  send  them  by  .the  next  ship  that  goes 
home.  Do  write  at  once,  because  I  never  heard  before  of 
anything  wrong  with  dear  Governor.  T.  R.  W.' " 

"  Poor  darling  !"  said  his  mother,  with  tears  in  her  eyes, 
while  Nicie  was  sobbing  quietly ;  "  by  this  time  he  may  be 
aware  of  it,  perhaps,  though  not  of  the  dreadful  thing  that 
happened  since.  It  will  not  be  for  his  happiness  that  he 
should  ever  know.  Remember  that,  Inez.  He  is  of  so 
much  vigour  and  high  blood,  of  the  best  Andalusian,  that 
he  would  become  insane,  and  perhaps  do  himself  deep  in- 
jury. He  would  cast  away  his  office — what  you  call  the 
commission — and  come  back  to  this  country,  and  be  put  in 
prison  for  not  accepting  quietly  the  sacrilegious  laws." 

"  Mother,  you  have  promised  never  to  speak  of  that  sub- 
ject. If  it  is  too  much  for  poor  Tom,  what  is  it  likely  to 
be  for  us  ?  All  we  can  do  is  to  leave  it  to  God." 

"  There  is  not  the  same  God  in  this  country  as  we  have. 
If  there  was,  He  would  never  endure  it." 


CHAPTEK   XXIV 
A    WAGER 

IT  was  true  enough  that  Mr.  Penniloe  was  gone  to  Lon- 
don, as  Gronow  said.  But  it  was  not  true  that  otherwise 
he  would  have  held  a  prayer-meeting  every  day  in  Lady 
Waldron's  room  for  the  benefit  of  her  case.  He  would 
have  been  a  great  support  and  strength  to  Inez  in  her 
anxiety,  and  doubtless  would  have  joined  his  prayers  with 
hers  ;  that  would  have  been  enough  for  him.  Dr.  Gronow 
was  a  man  who  meant  well  upon  the  whole,  but  not  in 
every  crick  and  cranny,  as  a  really  fine  individual  does. 
But  the  parson  was  even  less  likely  than  the  doctor  to 
lift  a  latch  plugged  by  a  lady  against  him. 

"  Thyatira,  do  you  think  that  you  could  manage  to  see 
to  the  children,  and  the  butcher's  bill,  during  the  course 
of  next  week,"  he  inquired,  when  the  pupils  were  off  for 
their  holiday,  with  accordions  and  pan  pipes  and  pea- 
shooters ;  "  I  have  particular  business  in  London.  Only 
Betty  Cork  and  old  Job  Tapscott  have  come  to  my  read- 
ings of  Solomon's  Song,  and  both  of  them  are  as  deaf  as 
mile-stones.  Master  Harry  will  be  home  again  in  three 
days'  time,  and  when  he  is  in  the  house  you  have  no  fear ; 
though  your  confidence  should  be  placed  much  higher. 
Master  Michael  is  stronger  of  late,  and  if  we  can  keep 
shocking  stories  from  him,  his  poor  little  head  may  be 
right  again.  There  really  has  been  no  proof  at  all  of  the 
existence  of  any  Spring-heeled  Jack,  and  he  would  never 
come  here  to  earn  his  money.  He  may  have  been  men- 
tioned in  prophecy,  as  the  Wesleyan  minister  declared, 
but  I  have  failed  to  come  across  the  passage.  Our  Church 
does  not  deal  in  those  exciting  views,  and  does  not  recog- 
nize dark  lanterns." 

"  No,  sir,  we  are  much  soberer  like ;  but  still  there  re- 
mains the  seven  vials." 


A    WAGER  237 

The  parson  was  up  to  snuff — if  the  matter  may  be  put 
upon  so  low  a  footing.  Mrs.  Muggridge  had  placed  her 
arms  akimbo,  in  challenge  theological.  He  knew  that 
her  views  were  still  the  lowest  of  the  low,  and  could  not 
be  hoisted  by  any  petard  to  the  High-Church  level.  And 
the  worst  of  it  is  that  such  people  are  pat  with  awkward 
points  of  Holy  Writ,  as  hard  to  parry  as  the  stroke  of 
Jarnac.  In  truth  he  must  himself  confess  that  partly  thus 
had  Thyatira,  at  an  early  and  impressible  age,  been  in- 
duced to  join  the  Church,  when  there  chanced  to  be  a 
vacancy  for  a  house-maid  at  the  parsonage.  It  was  in  his 
father's  parish,  where  her  father,  Stephen  Muggridge, 
occupied  a  farm  belonging  to  the  Rev.  Isaac  Penniloe. 
Philip,  as  a  zealous  churchman,  urged  that  the  parson's 
chief  tenant  should  come  to  church,  but  the  Rev.  Isaac 
took  a  larger  view,  preferring  his  tangible  corn-land  to  his 
spiritual  vineyard. 

"You  had  better  let  Stephen  alone,"  he  said;  "you 
would  very  soon  get  the  worst  of  it,  with  all  your  new 
Oxford  theology.  Farmer  Steve  is  a  wonderfully  stout 
Antipsedobaptist ;  and  he  searches  the  Scriptures  every  day, 
which  leaves  no  chance  for  a  churchman,  who  can  only 
find  time  on  a  Saturday." 

This  dissuasion  only  whetted  the  controversial  appetite, 
and  offset  Philip  with  his  Polyglot  Bible  under  his  arm. 
When  Farmer  Stephen  saw  him  coming,  he  smiled  a  grim 
and  gallant  smile,  being  equally  hot  for  the  combat.  Says 
he,  after  a  few  preliminary  passes, 

"Now,  young  sir,  look  here  !  I'll  show  'e  a  text  as  you 
can't  explain  away,  with  all  Oxford  College  at  the  back  of 
thee.  Just  you  turn  to  Gospel  of  John,  third  chapter  and 
fifth  verse,  and  you  read  it,  after  me :  '  Except  a  man  be 
born  of  water,  and  of  the  spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God.'  The  same  in  your  copy,  bain't  it  now  ? 
Then,  according  to  my  laming,  m-a-n  spells  man,  and 
b-a-b-e  spells  babe.  Now,  till  you  can  put  b-a-b-e  in  the 
place  of  rn-a-n  in  that  there  text,  what  becomes  of  your 
Church  baptism  ?" 

The  farmer  grinned  gently  at  the  parson,  in  the  pride 
of  triumph,  and  looked  round  for  his  family  to  share  it. 

"  Farmer  Stephen,  that  sounds  well,"   replied  the  un- 


238  PEBLYCEOSS 

daunted  Philip,  "  but  perhaps  you  will  oblige  me  by  turn- 
ing over  a  few  leaves,  as  far  as  the  sixteenth  chapter  of 
the  same  Gospel,  and  verse  twenty-one.  You  see  how  it 
begins  with  reference  to  the  pains  of  a  mother,  and  then 
occur  these  words :  *  she  remembereth  no  more  the  an- 
guish, for  joy  that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world.'  Now, 
was  that  man  born  full-grown,  Farmer  Stephen?" 

The  farmer  knitted  his  brows  and  stared ;  there  was  no 
smile  left  upon  his  face,  but  in  lieu  of  it  came  a  merry 
laugh  from  beside  his  big  oaken  chair ;  and  the  head  of 
her  class  in  the  village  school  was  studying  his  counte- 
nance. 

"  Her  can  go  to  parsonage,"  quoth  the  Antipsedobap- 
tist, "  her  won't  take  no  harm  in  a  household  where  they 
know  their  Bible  so." 

Farmer  Stephen  was  living  still,  and,  like  a  gentleman, 
had  foregone  all  attempts  to  recapture  his  daughter. 
With  equal  forbearance  Penniloe  never  pressed  his  own 
opinions  concerning  smaller  matters  upon  his  pious  house- 
keeper, and  therefore  was  fain  to  decline,  as  above,  her 
often-proffered  challenges. 

"  There  are  many  things  still  very  dark  before  us,"  he 
answered,  with  his  sweet,  sad  smile  ;  "  let  us  therefore  be 
instant  in  prayer,  while  not  neglecting  our  worldly  duties. 
It  is  a  worldly  duty  now  which  takes  me  from  my  parish, 
much  against  my  own  desires.  I  shall  not  stay  an  hour 
more  than  can  be  helped,  and  shall  take  occasion  to  for- 
ward, if  I  can,  the  interests  of  our  restoration  fund." 

Mrs.  Muggridge,  when  she  heard  of  that,  was  ready  at 
once  to  do  her  best.  Not  that  she  cared  much  about  the 
church  repairs,  but  that  her  faithful  heart  was  troubled  by 
her  master's  heavy  anxieties.  As  happens  (without  any 
one  established  exception)  in  such  cases,  the  outlay  had 
proved  to  be  vastly  greater  than  the  most  exhaustive  esti- 
mate. Mr.  Penniloe  felt  himself  liable  for  the  repayment 
of  every  farthing ;  and  though  the  contractors  at  Exeter 
were  most  lenient  and  considerate  (being  happily  a  firm 
of  substance),  his  mind  was  much  tormented — at  the  low- 
er tides  of  faith — about  it.  At  least  twelve  hundred 
pounds  was  certain  to  fall  due  at  Christmas,  that  season 
of  peace  and  good-will  for  all  Christians  who  can  pay  for 


A    WAGES  239 

it.  Even  at  that  date  there  were  several  good  and  use- 
ful corporations,  societies,  associations,  ready  to  help  the 
Church  of  England  even  among  white  men,  when  the  case 
was  put  well  before  them.  The  parson  had  applied  by 
letter  vainly ;  now  he  hoped  to  see  the  people  and  get  a 
trifle  out  of  them. 

The  long  and  expensive  journey,  and  the  further  ex- 
pense of  the  sojourn,  were  quite  beyond  his  resources — 
drained  so  low  by  the  House  of  the  Lord — but  now  the 
solicitors  to  the  estate  of  Sir  Thomas  Waldron,  Bart.,  de- 
ceased, required  his  presence  in  London  for  essential  for- 
malities, and  gladly  provided  the  viaticum.  Therefore  he 
donned  his  warmest  clothes,  for  the  weather  was  becom- 
ing wintry,  put  the  oil-skin  over  his  Sunday  hat — a  genuine 
beaver,  which  had  been  his  father's  and  started  in  life  at 
two  guineas,  and  even  now  in  its  curate  stage  might  stand 
out  for  twenty-one  shillings — and  committing  his  house- 
hold solemnly  to  the  care  of  the  Almighty,  met  the  first 
up-coach  before  daylight  on  Monday,  when  it  changed 
horses  at  the  Blue  Ball  Inn,  at  the  north-east  corner  of  his 
parish. 

All  western  coaches  had  been  quickened  lately  by  ti- 
dings of  steam  in  the  North,  which  would  take  a  man 
nearly  a  score  of  miles  in  one  hour ;  and  though  nobody 
really  believed  in  this,  the  mere  talk  of  it  made  the  horses 
go.  There  was  one  coach  already,  known  by  the  rather 
profane  name  of  "  Quicksilver,"  which  was  said  to  travel  at 
the  almost  impious  pace  of  twelve  miles  an  hour.  But 
few  had  much  faith  in  this  break-neck  tale,  and  the  "  Quick- 
silver "  flew  upon  the  southern  road,  which  never  comes  nigh 
the  Perle  valley.  Even  so,  there  were  coaches  on  this 
upper  road  which  averaged  nine  miles  an  hour  all  the  way, 
foregoing,  for  the  sake  of  empty  speed,  breakfast  and  din- 
ner and  even  supper  on  the  road.  By  one  of  these,  called 
the  "  Tallyho,"  Mr.  Penniloe  booked  his  place  for  London, 
and  arrived  there,  in  good  health  but  very  tired,  early  on 
the  Tuesday  morning. 

The  Curate  of  Perlycross  was  not  at  all  of  the  rustic 
parson  type,  such  as  may  still  be  found  in  many  an  out-of- 
the-way  parish  of  Devon.  He  was  not  likely  to  lose  him- 
self in  the  streets  of  "  Mighty  Bahylon,"  as  London  was 


240  PERLYCROSS 

generally  called  in  those  days — and  he  showed  some  per- 
ception of  the  right  thing  to  do  by  putting  up  at  the  Old 
Hummums.  His  charges  for  the  week  were  borne  by  the 
lawyers  upon  whose  business  he  was  come ;  and  therefore 
the  whole  of  his  time  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  their 
agents,  Messrs.  Spindrift,  Honeysweet  &  Hoblin,  of 
Theobald's  Road,  Gray's  Inn.  That  highly  respected  firm 
led  him  about  from  office  to  office,  and  pillar  to  post, 
sometimes  sitting  upon  the  pillar,  sometimes  leaning 
against  the  post,  according  to  the  usage  immemorial  of 
their  learned  profession.  But  one  of  the  things  he  was 
resolved  to  do  between  Doe  and  Roe,  and  Notes  and 
Styles,  was  to  see  his  old  friend  Harrison  Gowler  concern- 
ing the  outrage  at  Perlycross. 

There  happened  to  be  a  great  run  now  upon  that  emi- 
nent physician,  because  he  had  told  a  lady  of  exalted  rank, 
who  had  a  loose  tendon  somewhere,  that  she  had  stepped 
on  a  piece  of  orange-peel  five -and -twenty  years  ago. 
Historical  research  proved  this  to  be  too  true,  although  it 
had  entirely  escaped  the  august  patient's  memory.  For 
this  Dr.  Gowler  was  made  a  baronet  at  once,  his  practice 
was  doubled,  though  it  had  been  very  large,  and  so  were 
all  his  fees,  though  they  had  not  been  small.  In  a  word, 
he  was  the  rage,  and  was  making  golden  hay  in  the  full 
blaze  of  a  royal  sun. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  the  simple  friend  for  a  long  time 
sought  the  great  man  vainly.  He  could  not  very  well 
write  to  ask  for  an  interview  on  the  following  day  because 
he  never  knew  at  what  hour  he  might  hope  to  be  delivered 
from  the  lawyers ;  and  it  never  occurred  to  him  to  prepay 
the  postage  of  his  card  from  door  to  table  to  either  of  the 
haughty  footmen.  Slow  as  he  was  to  take  offence,  he 
began  to  fear  that  it  must  be  meant,  for  the  name  of  his 
hotel  was  on  his  cards ;  until,  as  he  was  turning  away  once 
more,  debating  with  himself  whether  self-respect  would 
allow  him  to  lift  that  brass  knocker  again,  the  great  man 
himself  came  point-blank  upon  him.  The  stately  footman 
had  made  a  rush  for  his  pint  of  half-and-half  round  the 
corner,  and  Sir  Harrison  had  to  open  his  own  door  to  show 
a  noble  patient  forth. 

"  What,  you  in  London,  Penniloe  !"     And  a  kind  grasp 


A   WAGEK  241 

of  the  hand  made  it  clear  that  the  physician  was  not  him- 
self to  blame.  In  a  few  quick  words  it  was  arranged  that 
the  parson  should  call  again  at  six  o'clock  and  share  his 
old  friend's  simple  meal.  "  We  shall  have  two  good 
hours  for  a  talk,"  said  Gowler,  "  for  all  the  great  people 
are  at  dinner  then.  At  eight  I  have  a  consultation  on." 

"  I  never  have  what  can  be  called  a  dinner,"  Sir  Har- 
rison said,  when  they  met  again ;  "  only  a  bit  of — I  for- 
get what  the  Greek  expression  is.  There  is  an  American 
turn  for  it." 

"You  must  indeed  be  overdone  if  you  are  forgetting 
your  Greek,"  replied  his  friend;  "you  were  far  in  front 
of  me  there  always ;  though  I  think  I  was  not  so  far  be- 
hind in  Latin." 

"  I  think  you  were  better  in  both.  But  what  matter  ? 
We  have  little  time  now  for  such  delights.  How  often  I 
wish  I  were  back  again  at  Oxford ;  ten  times  poorer,  but 
a  thousand  times  happier.  What  is  the  good  of  my  hun- 
dred pounds  a  day.  I  often  get  that,  and  am  ashamed 
of  it." 

The  parson  refrained  from  quoting  any  of  the  plentiful 
advice  upon  that  matter  from  the  very  highest  authorities. 
He  tried  to  look  cheerfully  at  his  old  friend,  and  did  not 
even  shake  his  head.  But  a  very  deep  sadness  was  in 
his  own  heart,  and  yet  a  confirmation  of  his  own  higher 
faith. 

Then,  knowing  that  the  time  was  very  short,  and  feeling 
his  duty  to  his  own  parish,  he  told  the  tale  he  was  come 
to  tell ;  and  Sir  Harrison  listened  intently  to  it. 

"  I  scarcely  know  what  to  think,"  he  said  ;  "  even  if  I 
were  on  the  spot,  and  knew  every  one  whom  it  was  pos- 
sible to  suspect,  it  would  he  a  terrible  puzzle  to  me.  One 
thing  may  be  said,  with  confidence,  amounting  almost  to 
certainty,  that  it  is  not  a  medical  matter  at  all.  That 
much  I  can  settle,  beyond  all  doubt,  by  means  which  I 
need  not  specify.  Even  with  you  I  cannot  enter  upon 
questions  so  professional.  W"e  know  that  irregular  things 
are  done,  and  the  folly  of  the  law  compels  them.  But 
this  is  quite  out  of  the  course  they  pursue.  However,  I 
can  make  quite  certain  about  all  that  within  a  week. 
Meanwhile  you  should  look  for  a  more  likely  clew.  You 


242  PEELYCEOSS 

have  lost  invaluable  time  by  concluding,  as  of  course  the 
stupid  public  would,  especially  after  all  the  Burke  and 
Hare  affairs,  that *  the  doctors  must  be  at  the  bottom  of  it.' 
Most  unlucky  that  you  were  so  unwell,  or  you  might  have 
set  the  inquiry  on  the  right  track  from  the  first.  Surely 
it  must  have  occurred  to  you  that  medical  men,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  are  the  sharpest  fellows  of  the  neighbourhood,  ex- 
cept, of  course — of  course  excepting  the  parsons  ?" 

"  They  are  sharper  than  we  are,"  said  the  parson,  with 
a  smile ;  "  but  perhaps  that  is  the  very  thing  that  tells 
against  our  faith  in  them." 

"  Very  likely.  But  still  it  keeps  them  from  utterly 
mad  atrocities.  Sir  Thomas  Waldron,  a  famous,  man,  a 
grand  old  soldier,  and  above  all  a  wealthy  man  !  Why, 
they  could  have  done  no  more  to  a  poor  old  wretch  from 
the  workhouse !" 

"  The  crime  in  that  case  would  have  been  as  great,  per- 
haps greater,  because  more  cowardly." 

"You  always  were  a  highflyer,  my  friend.  But  never 
mind  the  criminality.  What  we  want  to  know  is  the 
probability.  And  to  find  out  that,  we  have  to  study  not 
the  laws  of  morality,  but  the  rules  of  human  conduct. 
What  was  the  name  of  the  man  I  met  about  the  case  at 
your  house?  Oh,  I  remember — Gronow ;  a  very  shrewd, 
clear-headed  fellow.  Well,  what  does  he  say  about  it  ?" 

"  As  nearly  as  possible  what  you  have  said.  Some 
slight  suspicion  has  fallen  upon  him.  But,  as  I  told  you, 
Jemmy  Fox  has  come  in  for  the  lion's  share  of  it." 

"  Poor  young  fellow  !  It  must  be  very  hard  to  bear. 
It  will  make  him  hate  a  profession  in  which  he  would 
have  been  sure  to  distinguish  himself,  because  he  really 
loves  it.  What  a  thick-headed  monster  the  English  pub- 
lic is!  They  always  exult  in  a  wild-goose  chase.  Are 
you  sure  that  the  body  was  ever  carried  off  at  all  ?" 

"  The  very  question  Doctor  Gronow  asked  !  Unhap- 
pily, there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  upon  that  point. 
As  I  ought  to  have  told  you,  though  I  was  not  there  to 
see  it,  the  search  was  made  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
and  with  a  dozen  people  round  the  grave.  They  went  to 
the  bottom,  found  the  brickwork  broken  down  and  no  sign 
of  any  coffin." 


A  WAGER  243 

"  Well,  that  ought  to  lead  us  to  something  clear. 
That  alone  is  almost  certain  proof  of  what  I  said  just 
now.  *  Resurrection  -  men,'  as  the  stupid  public  calls 
them,  would  have  taken  the  body  alone.  Not  only  be- 
cause they  escape  all  charge  of  felony  by  doing  so,  but 
that  it  is  so  much  easier ;  and  for  many  other  reasons 
which  you  may  imagine.  I  begin  to  see  my  way  more 
clearly.  Depend  upon  it,  this  is  some  family  matter. 
Some  private  feud,  or  some  motive  of  money,  or  perhaps 
even  some  religious  scruple  lies  at  the  bottom  of  this 
strange  affair.  I  begin  to  think  that  you  will  have  to  go 
to  Spain  before  you  understand  it  all.  How  has  Lady 
Waldron  behaved  about  it  ?" 

"  She  has  been  most  bitter  against  poor  Jemmy."  Mr. 
Penniloe  had  not  heard  of  what  was  happening  this  very 
week  at  Walderscourt.  "  She  will  not  see  him,  will  not 
hear  his  name,  and  is  bitter  against  any  one  who  takes 
his  part.  She  cannot  even  bring  herself  to  speak  to  me, 
because,  in  common  fairness,  I  have  done  my  best  for  him 
against  the  general  opinion  and  her  own  firm  conclusion. 
That  is  one  reason  why  I  am  in  London  now.  She  will 
not  even  act  with  me  in  taking  probate  of  the  will.  In 
fact,  it  has  driven  her,  as  I  fear,  almost  to  the  verge  of 
insanity  ;  for  she  behaves  most  unkindly  even  to  her 
daughter.  But  she  is  more  to  be  pitied  than  blamed, 
poor  thing." 

"  I  agree  with  you,  in  case  of  all  this  being  genuine. 
But  is  it  so  ?  Or  is  it  a  bit  of  acting  overacted  ?  I  have 
known  women  who  could  act  so  as  to  impose  upon  their 
own  brains." 

"  It  has  never  once  entered  my  head,"  replied  the  sim- 
ple-minded parson,  "  to  doubt  that  all  she  says  and  does 
is  genuine.  Even  you  could  not  doubt  if  you  beheld  her." 

"I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,"  observed  Sir  Harrison, 
very  dryly ;  "  the  beauty  of  your  character  is  the  grand 
simplicity.  You  have  not  the  least  idea  of  any  wicked- 
ness." 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  cried  the  parson,  deeply  shocked ; 
"  it  is,  alas,  my  sad  duty  to  find  out  and  strive  with  the 
darkest  cases  of  the  depravity  of  our  fallen  race !" 

"  Of  course ;    but  you  think   none  the  worse  of  them 


244  PEELYCKOSS 

for  that.  It  is  water  on  a  duck's  back  to  such  a  man  as 
you.  Well,  have  it  so ;  if  you  like.  I  see  the  worst  of 
their  bodies,  and  you  the  worst  of  their  souls,  as  you 
suppose.  But  I  think  you  put  some  of  your  own  into 
them — infusion  of  sounder  blood,  as  it  were." 

"Gowler,  you  may  think  as  ill  as  fallen  nature  can 
make  you  think  of  all  your  fellow-creatures  " — Mr.  Pen- 
niloe  spoke  with  a  sharpness  very  seldom  found  in  words 
of  his — "  but  in  fair  truth,  it  is  beyond  the  blackest  of 
all  black  bitterness  to  doubt  poor  Lady  Waldron's  simple 
and  perfect  sincerity." 

"Because  of  her  very  magnificent  eyes,"  Sir  Harrison 
answered,  as  if  to  himself,  and  to  meet  his  own  too  chari- 
table interjections.  "  But  what  has  she  done  to  carry 
out  her  wild  revenge  at  an  outrage  which  she  would  feel 
more  keenly  perhaps  than  the  most  sensitive  of  English- 
women ?  Has  she  moved  high  and  low,  ransacked  the 
earth,  set  all  the  neighbourhood  on  fire,  and  appealed  with 
tears  and  threats  and  money  (which  is  the  strongest  of  all 
appeals)  to  the  Caesar  enthroned  in  London  ?  If  she  had 
done  any  of  these  things  I  fancy  I  should  have  heard  of 
them." 

For  the  moment  Mr.  Penniloe  disliked  his  friend,  as 
a  man  may  feel  annoyance  at  his  own  wife  even,  when  her 
mind  for  some  trivial  cause  is  moving  on  a  lower  level 
than  his  own. 

"  As  yet  she  has  not  taken  any  strong  steps,"  he  con- 
fessed, with  some  reluctance ;  "  because  she  has  been 
obliged  to  act  under  her  lawyer's  guidance.  Remember 
that  she  is  a  foreigner,  and  knows  nothing  of  our  legal 
machinery." 

"  Very  "likely  not.  But  Webber  does — Webber,  her  so- 
licitor. I  suppose  Webber  has  been  very  energetic." 

"  He  has  not  done  so  much  as  one  might  have  ex- 
pected. In  fact,  he  has  seemed  to  me  rather  remiss.  He 
has  had  his  own  private  hands  at  work,  which,  as  he  says, 
is  the  surest  plan ;  but  he  has  brought  no  officers  from 
London  down.  He  tells  me  that  in  all  such  cases  they 
have  failed  ;  and  more  than  that,  they  have  entirely  spoiled 
the  success  of  all  private  inquiry." 

"  It  looks  to  me  very  much  as  if  private  inquiry  had  no 


A   WAGER  245 

great  desire  to  succeed.  My  conclusion  grows  more  and 
more  irresistible.  Shall  I  tell  you  what  it  is  ?" 

"  My  dear  fellow,  by  all  means  do.  I  shall  attach  very 
great  importance  to  it." 

"It  is  simply  this"  —  Sir  Harrison  spoke  less  rapidly 
than  usual — "  all  your  mystery  is  solved  in  this :  Lady 
Waldron  knows  all  about  it.  How  you  all  have  missed 
that  plain  truth  puzzles  me.  She  has  excellent  reasons 
for  restricting  the  inquiry,  and  casting  suspicion  upon 
poor  Fox.  Did  I  not  hear  of  a  brother  of  hers,  a  Span- 
ish nobleman  I  think  he  was  ?" 

"  Yes,  her  twin-brother,  the  Count  de  Varcas.  She  has 
always  been  warmly  attached  to  him ;  but  Sir  Thomas 
did  not  like  him  much.  I  think  he  has  been  extravagant. 
Lady  Waldron  has  been  doing  her  utmost  to  discover 
him." 

"  I  dare  say.  To  be  sure  she  has  !  Advertised  largely, 
of  course.  Oh  dear,  oh  dear  !  What  poor  simple  creat- 
ures we  men  are,  in  comparison  with  women  !" 

Mr.  Penniloe  was  silent.  He  had  made  a  good  dinner  and 
taken  a  glass  of  old  port-wine ;  and  both  those  proceed- 
ings were  very  rare  with  him.  Like  all  extremely  ab- 
stemious men,  when  getting  on  in  years,  he  found  his 
brain  not  strengthened  but  confused  by  the  unusual  supply. 
The  air  of  London  had  upon  him  that  effect  which  it  often 
has  at  first  upon  visitors  from  the  country — quick  increase 
of  appetite  and  hearty  joy  in  feeding. 

"  Another  thing  you  told  me  which  confirms  my  view," 
resumed  the  relentless  doctor,  "  the  last  thing  discovered 
before  you  came  away — but  not  discovered,  mark  you,  by 
her  ladyship's  agents — was  that  the  cart  supposed  to  have 
been  employed  had  been  traced  to  a  smuggler's  hiding- 
place,  in  a  desolate  and  unfrequented  spot,  probably  in  the 
direction  of  the  coast.  Am  I  right  in  supposing  that  ?" 

"  Partly  so.  It  would  be  towards  the  sea,  though  cer- 
tainly not  the  shortest  way." 

"  But  the  best  way  probably  of  getting  at  the  coast,  if 
you  wish  to  avoid  towns  and  villages  ?  That  you  admit  ? 
Then  all  is  plain.  Poor  Sir  Thomas  was  to  be  exported. 
Probably  to  Spain.  That  I  will  not  pretend  to  determine, 
but  I  think  it  most  likely.  Perhaps  to  be  buried  in  Catho- 


246  PEKLYCROSS 

lie  soil  and  with  Catholic  ceremonial,  which  they  could 
not  do  openly  here  because  of  his  own  directions.  How 
simple  the  very  deepest  mystery  becomes  when  once  you 
have  the  key  to  it !  But  how  strange  that  it  never  oc- 
curred to  you !  I  should  have  thought  Gronow  at  any 
rate  would  have  guessed  it." 

"  He  has  more  penetration  than  I  have ;  I  am  well 
aware  of  that,"  replied  the  humble  parson  ;  "  and  you,  of 
course,  have  more  than  either  of  us.  But  for  all  that, 
Gowler,  and  although  I  admit  that  your  theory  is  very 
plausible,  and  explains  many  points  that  seemed  inexplic- 
able, I  cannot,  and  I  will  not  accept  it  for  a  moment." 

"  Where  is  your  difficulty  ?  Is  it  not  simple — consist- 
ent with  all  that  we  know  of  such  people,  priest-ridden  of 
course,  and  double-faced  and  crafty  ?  Does  it  not  solve 
every  difficulty  ?  What  can  you  urge  against  it  ?" 

"  My  firm  belief  in  the  honesty,  affection,  and  good  faith 
of  women." 

"  Whew  !"  The  great  physician  forgot  his  dignity  in 
the  enjoyment  of  so  fine  a  joke.  He  gave  a  long  whistle, 
and  then  put  his  thumb  to  his  nose,  and  extended  his 
fingers  as  school-boys  of  that  period  did.  "  Honesty  of 
women,  Penniloe !  At  your  age,  you  surely  know  better 
than  that.  A  very  frail  argument,  indeed." 

"  Because  of  my  age  it  is  perhaps  that  I  do  know  better. 
I  would  rather  not  discuss  the  subject.  You  have  your 
views,  and  I  have  mine." 

"  I  am  pleased  with  this  sort  of  thing,  because  it  re- 
minds one  so  much  of  boyhood."  Sir  Harrison  stood  by 
the  fire  and  began  to  consult  his  short  gray  whiskers. 
"  Let  me  see,  how  many  years  is  it  since  I  cherished  such 
illusions  ?  Well,  they  are  pleasant  enough  while  they  last. 
I  suppose  you  never  make  a  bet,  Penniloe  ?" 

"  Of  course  not,  Gowler.  You  seem  to  be  as  ignorant 
of  clergymen  as  you  are  of  women." 

"  Don't  be  touchy,  my  dear  fellow.  Many  of  the  cloth 
accept  the  odds,  and  have  privilege  of  clergy  when  they 
lose.  Well,  I'll  tell  you  what  I  will  do.  You  see  that  little 
cupboard  in  the  panelling  ?  It  has  only  one  key,  and  the 
lock  is  peculiar.  Here  1  deposit — behold  my  act  and 
deed  —  these  two  fifty -pound  notes.  You  take  the  key. 


A    WAGER  247 

Now  you  shall  come,  or  send  either  church-warden,  and 
carry  them  off  for  the  good  of  your  church-restoration  fund 
the  moment  you  can  prove  that  my  theory  is  wrong." 

"  I  am  not  sure,"  said  the  clergyman,  with  a  little  agi- 
tation, as  the  courage  of  that  single  glass  of  port  declined, 
"  that  this  is  not  too  much  in  the  nature  of  a  wager." 

"  No ;  there  is  no  wager.  That  requires  two  parties.  It  is 
simply  a  question  of  forfeiture.  No  peril  to  a  good  cause 
— as  you  would  call  it  —  in  case  of  failure.  And  a  solid 
gain  to  it  if  I  prove  wrong.  Take  the  key,  my  friend  ;  my 
time  is  up." 

Mr.  Penniloe,  the  most  conscientious  of  mankind,  and 
therefore  the  most  gentle,  had  still  some  qualms  about  the 
innocence  of  this.  But  his  friend's  presumptuous  manner 
hushed  them.  He  dropped  the  key  into  his  deep  watch- 
pocket,  specially  secured  against  the  many  rogues  of  Lon- 
don ;  and  there  it  was  when  he  mounted  on  the  "  Magnet " 
coach  at  two  o'clock  on  the  Friday  afternoon,  prepared  for 
a  long  and  dreary  journey  to  his  home. 

The  "  Magnet  "  was  one  of  those  calm  and  considerate 
coaches  which  thought  a  great  deal  more  of  the  comfort 
and  safety  of  their  passengers  and  horses  than  of  the 
fidgety  hands  of  any  clock — be  it  even  a  cathedral  clock — 
on  the  whole  road  from  London  to  Exeter.  What  are  the 
most  important  hours  of  the  day  ?  Manifestly  those  of 
feeding.  Each  of  them  is  worth  any  other  three.  There- 
fore you  lose  three  times  the  time  you  save  by  omitting 
your  dinner.  This  coach  breakfasted,  dined,  and  supped, 
and  slept  on  the  road,  or  rather  out  of  it,  and  started 
again,  as  fresh  as  paint,  quite  early  enough  in  the  morning. 

With  his  usual  faith  in  human  nature,  Mr.  Penniloe  had 
not  inquired  into  these  points,  but  concluded  that  this 
coach  would  rush  along  in  the  breathless  manner  of  the 
"  Tallyho."  This  leisurely  course  began  to  make  him  very 
nervous,  and  when  on  Saturday  at  two  o'clock  another  de- 
liberate halt  was  made  at  a  little  way-side  inn,  some  fifty 
miles  still  from  Perlycross,  and  every  one  descended  with 
a  sprightly  air,  the  clergyman  marched  up  to  the  coach- 
man to  remonstrate. 

"  Unless  we  get  on  a  little  faster,"  he  said,  with  a  kind 
but  anxious  smile,  "  I  shall  not  be  at  home  for  Sunday." 


248  PERLYCKOSS 

"Can't  help  that,  sir;  the  coach  must  dine,"  replied 
the  fat  driver,  as  he  pulled  his  muffler  down  to  give  his 
capacious  mouth  fair  play. 

"But  —  but  consider,  Mr.  Coachman,  I  must  get  home. 
I  have  my  church  to  serve." 

"  Must  serve  the  dinner  first,  sir,  if  you  please,"  said 
the  landlord,  coming  forward  with  a  napkin,  which  he 
waved  as  if  it  were  worth  a  score  of  sermons  ;  all  the  gents 
are  waiting,  sir,  for  you  to  say  the  grace  —  hot  soup, 
knuckle  of  veal,  boiled  round,  and  baked  potatoes.  Gents 
has  to  pay  if  they  dine  or  if  they  don't.  Knowing  this, 
all  gents  does  dine.  Preach  all  the  better,  sir,  to-morrow 
for  it." 

If  this  preparation  were  needful,  the  curate's  sermon 
would  not  have  been  excellent,  for  anxiety  had  spoiled  his 
appetite.  When  at  length  they  lumbered  on  again,  he 
strove  to  divert  his  thoughts  by  observing  his  fellow- 
passengers.  And  now  for  the  first  time  he  descried,  over 
the  luggage  piled  on  the  roof,  a  man  with  a  broad  slouched 
hat  and  fur  cloak,  who  sat  with  his  back  towards  him — for 
Mr.  Penniloe  had  taken  his  place  on  the  hinder  part  of 
the  coach.  That  man  had  not  joined  the  dinner-party, 
yet  no  one  remained  on  the  coach  or  in  it  during  the 
dinner-hour,  for  the  weather  was  cold  and  windy,  with  a 
few  flakes  of  snow  flying  idly  all  day,  and  jusfc  making 
little  ribs  of  white  upon  the  road.  Mr.  Penniloe  was  not 
a  very  observant  man,  least  of  all  on  a  Saturday,  when  his 
mind  was  dwelling  chiefly  upon  Scriptural  subjects ;  but 
he  could  not  help  wondering  how  this  man  came  there, 
for  the  coach  had  not  stopped  since  they  left  the  little  inn. 

This,  perhaps,  drew  his  attention  to  the  man,  who  ap- 
peared to  be  "  thoroughly  a  foreigner,"  as  John  Bull  in 
those  days  expressed  it.  For  he  wore  no  whiskers,  but  a 
long  black  beard  streaked  with  silver,  as  even  those  be- 
hind could  see,  for  the  whirl  of  the  north  wind  tossed  it 
now  and  then  upon  his  left  shoulder.  He  kept  his  head 
low  behind  the  coachman's  broad  figure,  and  appeared  to 
speak  to  nobody,  but  smoked  cigars  incessantly,  lighting 
each  from  the  stump  of  its  predecessor,  and  scattering 
much  ash  about,  to  the  discomfort  of  his  neighbours'  eyes. 
Although  Mr.  Penniloe  never  smoked,  he  enjoyed  the  fra- 


A  WAGEK  249 

grance  of  a  good  cigar  perhaps  more  than  the  puffer  him- 
self does  (especially  if  he  puff  too  vehemently),  and  he  was 
able  to  pronounce  this  man's  tobacco  very  fine. 

At  length  they  arrived  at  Pumpington,  about  six  miles 
from  Perlycross,  and  here  Mr.  Penniloe  fully  expected 
another  halt  for  supper,  and  had  made  up  his  mind  in  that 
case  to  leave  the  coach  and  trudge  home  afoot.  But  to 
his  relief  they  merely  changed  horses,  and  did  that  with 
some  show  of  alacrity,  for  they  were  bound  to  be  at  Exeter 
that  night,  and  the  snow  was  beginning  to  thicken.  At 
the  turnpike-gate  two  men  got  up,  one  of  them  a  sailor 
going  'probably  to  Plymouth,  who  mounted  the  tarpaulin 
that  covered  the  luggage,  and  threw  himself  flat  upon  it 
with  a  jovial  air  and  made  himself  quite  at  home,  smoking 
a  short  pipe,  and  waving  a  black  bottle  when  he  could 
spare  time  from  sucking  it.  The  other  man  came  and  sat 
beside  the  parson,  who  did  not  recognize  him  at  first,  for 
the  coach  carried  only  two  lamps,  both  in  front,  and  their 
light  was  thrown  over  their  shoulders  now  and  then  in 
rough  streams,  like  the  beard  of  the  foreigner.  All  the  best 
coaches  still  carried  a  guard,  and  the  Royal  Mail  was 
bound  to  do  so,  but  the  "  Magnet,"  towards  the  end  of  its 
career,  had  none. 

Mr.  Penniloe  meekly  allowed  the  new-comer  to  edge  his 
feet  gradually  out  of  the  straw  nest  and  work  his  own  into 
the  heart  of  it;  for  now  it  was  truly  a  shivering  and  a  shud- 
dering night.  The  steam  of  the  horses  and  their  breath 
came  back  in  turbid  clouds,  and  the  snow  or  soft  hail 
(now  known  as  graupel)  cut  white  streaks  through  them 
into  the  travellers'  eyes,  and  danced  on  the  roof  like  loz- 
enges. Nobody  opened  mouth  except  the  sailor,  and  his 
was  stopped  as  well  as  opened  by  the  admirable  fit  of  the 
neck  of  his  rum -bottle.  But  this  being  overstrained  be- 
came too  soon  a  hollow  consolation ;  and  the  rim  of  the 
glass  rattled  dryly  against  his  chattering  teeth  till  he  cast 
it  away. 

"Never  say  die,  mates.  I'll  sing  you  a  song.  Don 
Darkimo,  give  us  a  cigar  to  chaw.  Never  could  smoke 
them  things,  gentlemen  and  ladies.  Can't  'e  speak,  or 
won't  'e,  then  ?  Never  mind,  here  goes  !" 

To  his  own  encouragement,  this  jolly  fellow,  with  his 
11* 


250  PERLYCROSS 

neck  and  chest  thrown  open,  and  his  summer  duds  on,  be- 
gan to  pour  forth  a  rough  nautical  ballad,  not  only  beyond 
the  pale  of  the  most  generous  orthodoxy,  but  entirely  out 
of  harmony  with  the  tone  of  all  good  society.  In  plainer 
words,  as  stupid  a  bit  of  ribaldry  and  blasphemy  as  the 
most  advanced  period  could  produce. 

Then  up  rose  Mr.  Penniloe,  and  in  a  firm  voice,  clear 
above  the  piping  of  the  wind  and  the  roar  of  wheels 
and  rattle  of  loose  harness,  administered  to  that  mariner 
a  rebuke  so  grave  and  solemn,  and  yet  so  full  of  large 
kindness  and  of  allowance  for  his  want  of  teaching,  that 
the  poor  fellow  hung  his  head,  and  felt  a  rising  in  his 
throat,  and  being  not  advanced  beyond  the  tender  stage 
of  intoxication,  passed  into  a  liquid  state  of  terror  and  re- 
pentance. 

With  this  the  clergyman  was  content,  being  of  longer  ex- 
perience than  to  indulge  in  further  homily.  But  the  mo- 
ment he  sat  down  up  rose  the  gentleman  who  had  cribbed 
his  straw,  and  addressed  the  applauding  passengers. 

"  My  friends,  the  Reverend  Penniloe  has  spoken  well 
and  eloquently.  But  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that 
it  would  be  more  consistent  of  him,  and  more  for  the  serv- 
ice of  the  Lord,  if  he  kept  his  powers  of  reproof  for  the 
use  of  his  own  parishioners.  He  is  the  clergyman  of  Per- 
lycross,  a  place  notorious  throughout  the  county  for  the 
most  infamous  of  crimes—a  place  where  even  the  dead  are 
not  allowed  to  sleep  in  peace." 

After  this  settler  the  man  sat  down  and  turned  his  back 
on  the  parson,  who  had  now  recognized  him,  with  deep  sor- 
row at  his  low  malevolence.  For  this  was  no  other  than 
Solomon  Pack,  watchmaker  and  jeweller  at  Pumpington, 
well  known  among  his  intimates  as  "  Pack  of  lies,"  from 
his  affection  for  malignant  gossip.  Mr.  Penniloe  had  of- 
fended him  by  employing  the  rival  tradesman,  Pack's  own 
brother-in-law,  with  whom  he  was  at  bitter  enmity. 

"  Mr.  Pack,  you  have  done  much  harm,  I  fear ;  and  this 
is  very  unjust  of  you  " — was  all  that  the  parson  deigned 
to  say.  But  he  had  observed,  with  some  surprise,  that 
while  Pack  was  speaking  the  foreigner  turned  round  and 
gazed  intently,  without  showing  much  of  his  swarthy  face, 
at  himself — Philip  Penniloe. 


A   WAGER  251 

Before  silence  was  broken  again  the  "  Magnet  "  drew  up 
at  the  Blue  Ball  Inn,  where  the  lane  turns  off  towards 
Perlycross,  and  the  clergyman,  leaving  his  valise  with  the 
landlord,  started  upon  his  three-mile  trudge.  But  before 
he  had  walked  more  than  a  hundred  yards  he  was  surprised 
to  see,  across  the  angle  of  the  common,  that  the  coach  had 
stopped  again  at  the  top  of  a  slight  rise,  where  a  foot-path 
led  from  the  turnpike  road  towards  the  northern  entrance 
to  Walderscourt.  The  clouds  were  now  dispersing,  and 
the  full  moon  shining  brightly,  and  the  ground  being 
covered  with  newly-fallen  snow,  the  light  was  as  good  as 
it  is  upon  many  a  winter  afternoon.  Mr.  Penniloe  was 
wearing  a  pair  of  long-sight  glasses,  specially  adapted  to 
his  use  by  a  skilful  optician  in  London,  and  he  was  as 
proud  of  them  as  a  child  is  of  his  first  whistle.  Without 
them  the  coach  might  have  been  a  hay-stack,  or  a  whale, 
so  far  as  he  could  tell ;  with  them  he  could  see  the  horses 
and  the  passengers  and  the  luggage. 

Having  seen  too  much  of  that  coach  already,  he  was 
watching  it  merely  as  a  test  for  his  new  glasses ;  and  the 
trial  proved  most  satisfactory.  "  How  proud  Fay  will  be," 
he  was  thinking  to  himself,  "  when  I  tell  her  that  I  can  see 
the  big  pear-tree  from  the  window,  and  even  the  thrushes 
on  the  lawn  !"  But  suddenly  his  interest  in  the  sight  in- 
creased. The  man  who  was  standing  in  the  road  with 
his  figure  shown  clearly  against  a  snowy  bank  was  no 
other  than  that  dark  foreigner  who  had  stared  at  him  so 
intently.  There  was  the  slouched  hat,  and  there  was  the 
fur  cloak,  and  even  the  peculiar  bend  of  the  neck.  A 
parcel  was  thrown  to  him  from  the  roof,  and  away  he 
went  across  the  common,  quite  as  if  he  knew  the  way, 
through  furze  and  heather,  to  the  back  entrance  of  Wal- 
derscourt grounds.  He  could  not  see  the  parson  in  the 
darker  lane  below,  and  doubtless  believed  himself  unseen. 

The  circumstance  aroused  some  strange  ideas  in  the 
candid  mind  of  Penniloe.  That  man,  knowing  who  he 
was  from  Pack's  tirade,  must  have  been  desirous  to  avoid 
him,  otherwise  he  would  have  quitted  the  coach  at  the 
Blue  Ball,  and  taken  this  better  way  to  Walderscourt ;  for 
the  lane  Mr.  Penniloe  was  following  led  more  directly 
thither  by  another  entrance.  What  if  there  were  some- 


252  PEELYCROSS 

thing,  after  all,  in  Gowler's  too  plausible  theory  ?  That 
man  looked  like  a  Spaniard,  probably  a  messenger  from 
Lady  Waldron's  scapegrace  brother ;  for  that  was  his 
character  if  plain  truth  were  spoken,  without  any  family 
gloss  upon  it.  And  if  he  were  a  messenger,  why  should 
he  come  thus,  unless  there  were  something  they  wanted 
to  conceal  ? 

The  curate  had  not  traversed  all  this  maze  of  medita- 
tions, which  made  him  feel  very  miserable  —  for  of  all 
things  he  hated  suspiciousness,  and  that  one  hundred 
pounds,  though  needed  so  sadly,  would  be  obtained  at  too 
high  a  cost  if  the  cost  were  his  faith  in  womankind — 
when,  lo,  his  own  church-tower  rose  grandly  before  him, 
its  buttresses  and  stringing  courses  capped  with  sparkling 
snow,  and  the  yew-tree  by  the  battlements  feathered  with 
the  same,  and  away  to  the  east  the  ivy  mantle  of  the  ab- 
bey, laced  and  bespangled  with  the  like  caprice  of  beauty, 
showered  from  the  glittering  stores  of  heaven. 

He  put  on  a  spurt  through  the  twinkling  air,  and  the 
frozen  snow  crunched  beneath  his  rapid  feet,  and  present- 
ly he  had  shaken  hands  with  Muggridge,  and  Fay  in  hei" 
nightgown  made  a  reckless  leap  from  the  height  of  ten 
stairs  into  his  gladsome  arms. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
A  SERMON  IN  STONE 

Now  Sergeant  Jakes  was  not  allowed  to  chastise  any 
boys  on  Sunday.  This  made  the  day  hang  very  heavy 
on  his  hands ;  and  as  misfortunes  never  come  single,  the 
sacred  day  robbed  him  of  another  fine  resource.  For  Mr. 
Penniloe  would  not  permit  even  Muggridge,  the  pious,  the 
sage,  and  the  prim,  to  receive  any  visitors — superciliously 
called  by  the  front-door  people  "  followers  " — upon  that 
blessed  day  of  rest,  when  surely  the  sweeter  side  of  hu- 
man nature  is  fostered  and  inspirited  from  reading-desk 
and  lectern,  from  gallery  and  from  pulpit. 

However,  even  clergymen  are  inconsistent,  as  their  own 
wives  acknowledge  confidentially ;  and  Mr.  Penniloe's  lect- 
ures upon  Solomon's  Song — a  treatise  then  greatly  ad- 
mired as  a  noble  allegory  by  high-churchmen — were  not 
enforced  at  home  by  any  warmth  of  practice.  Thus  stood 
the  law ;  and  of  all  offences  upon  the  sergeant's  hecat- 
ologue,  mutiny  was  the  most  heinous ;  therefore  he  could 
not  mutiny. 

But  surely,  if  Mr.  Penniloe  could  have  received,  or  con- 
ceived, a  germ  of  the  faintest  suspicion  concerning  this 
faithful  soldier's  alternatives  on  the  afternoon  of  the  Sab- 
bath—  as  churchmen  still  entitled  it — he  would  have 
thrown  open  every  door  of  kitchen,  back-kitchen,  scullery, 
and  even  pantry  to  him,  that  his  foot  might  be  kept  from 
so  offending.  Aye,  and  more  than  his  foot — his  breast  and 
arm — the  only  arm  he  had,  and  therefore  leaving  no  other 
blameless. 

It  is  most  depressing  to  record  the  lapse  of  such  a 
lofty  character,  so  gallant,  faithful,  self-denying,  true, 
austere,  and  simple — though  some  of  these  merits  may 
be  refused  him  when  the  truth  comes  out  —  as,  alas,  it 
must.  All  that  can  be  pleaded  in  his  favour,  is  that  an- 


254  PERLYCROSS 

cient,  threadbare,  paltry,  and  (as  must  even  be  acknowl- 
edged) dastardly  palliation — the  woman  tempted  him, 
and  he  fell!  Fell  from  his  brisk  and  jaunty  mien,  his 
noble  indifference  to  the  fair,  and  severity  to  their  little 
ones,  his  power  of  example  to  the  rising  age,  and  his  pure- 
minded  loyalty  to  Thyatira,  watered  by  rivers  of  tea,  and 
fed  by  acres  of  bread-and-butter.  And  the  worst  of  it 
was  that  he  had  sternly  resolved,  with  haughty  sense  of 
right  and  hearty  scorn  of  a  previous  slip  towards  back- 
sliding, that  none  of  this  weakness  should  ever,  even  in  a 
vision,  come  anigh  him  any  more.  Yet  see  how  easily 
this  rigid  man  was  wound  round  the  ringer  of  a  female 
"  teener  " — as  the  Americans  beautifully  express  it ! 

He  was  sitting  very  sadly  at  his  big  black  desk  one 
mild  and  melancholy  Sabbath  eve,  with  the  light  of  the 
dull  day  fading  out,  and  failing  to  make  facets  from  the  dia- 
monds of  the  windows,  and  the  heavy  school-clock  ticking 
feebly,  as  if  it  wished  time  was  over ;  while  shadows  that 
would  have  frightened  any  other  unmarried  man  in  the 
parish  came  in  from  the  silent  population  of  the  old 
church-yard  as  if  it  were  the  haze  of  another  world.  A 
little  cloud  of  smoke,  to  serve  them  up  with  their  own 
sauce,  would  have  consoled  the  school-master ;  but  he 
never  allowed  any  smoking  in  this  temple  ef  the  Muses, 
and  as  the  light  waned  he  lit  his  tallow-candle  to  finish 
the  work  that  he  had  in  hand. 

This  was  a  work  of  the  highest  criticism — to  revise, 
correct,  and  arrange  in  order  of  literary  merit  all  the  sum- 
maries of  the  morning  sermon  prepared  by  the  head- 
class  in  the  school.  Some  of  these  compositions  were 
of  extreme  obscurity,  and  some  conveyed  very  strange 
doctrinal  views.  He  was  inclined  to  award  the  palm  to 
the  following  fine  epitome — practical,  terse,  and  unim- 
peachably  orthodox :  "  The  sermon  was,  sir,  that  all  men 
ort  to  be  good,  and  never  to  do  no  wikked  things  when- 
never  they  can  help  it."  But  while  he  yet  paused,  with 
long  quill  in  hand,  the  heavy  oak  door  from  the  inner 
yard  was  opened  very  gently,  and  a  slender  form  attired 
in  black  appeared  at  the  end  of  the  long  and  gloomy 
room. 

Firm  of  nerve  as  he  was,  the  master  quailed  a  little  at 


A    SERMON    IN    STONE  255 

this  unexpected  sight ;  and  therefore  it  became  a  very 
sweet  relief  when  the  vision  brightened  into  a  living  and 
a  friendly  damsel,  and  more  than  that,  a  very  charming 
one.  All  firm  resolutions  like  shadows  vanished ;  in- 
stead of  a  stern  and  distant  air  and  a  very  rigid  attitude, 
a  smile  of  delight  and  a  bow  of  admiration  betrayed  the 
condition  of  his  bosom. 

That  fair  and  artless  Tamar  knew  exactly  how  to  place 
herself  to  the  very  best  advantage.  She  stood  on  the 
farther  side  of  the  candle,  so  that  its  low  uncertain  light 
hovered  on  the  soft  curve  of  her  cheeks  and  came  back 
in  a  flow  of  steady  lustre  from  her  large  brown  eyes.  She 
brushed  an  unbidden  tear  away,  and  timidly  allowed  those 
eyes  to  rest  upon  the  man  of  learning.  No  longer  was 
she  the  gay  coquette,  coying  with  frolic  challenge,  but  the 
gentle,  pensive,  submissive  maiden,  appealing  to  a  loftier 
mind.  The  sergeant's  tender  heart  was  touched,  up  sprang 
his  inborn  chivalry ;  and  he  swept  away  with  his  strong 
right  hand  the  efforts  of  juvenile  piety  and  the  lessons  of 
Holy  Writ. 

"  Sergeant  School-master,  no  chair  for  me,"  Tamar  be- 
gan, in  a  humble  voice,  as  he  offered  his  own  official  seat. 
"  I  have  but  a  moment  to  spare,  and  I  fear  you  will  be  so 
angry  with  me  for  intruding  upon  you  like  this.  But  I 
am  so — oh,  so  unhappy  !" 

"  What  is  it,  my  dear  ?  Who  has  dared  to  vex  you  ? 
Tell  me  his  name,  and  although  it  is  Sunday — ah,  just  let 
me  come  across  him  !" 

"  Nobody,  nobody,  Sergeant  School-master  " — here  she 
pulled  out  a  handkerchief  which  a  woman  would  have 
pronounced  at  a  glance  the  property  of  her  mistress. 
"  Oh,  how  shall  I  dare  to  tell  you  who  it  is  ?" 

"  I  insist  upon  knowing,"  said  the  sergeant,  boldly  tak- 
ing the  upperhand,  because  the  maiden  looked  so  hum- 
ble— "I  insist  upon  knowing  who  it  is  this  very  moment." 

"  Then,  if  I  must  tell,  if  you  won't  let  me  off,"  she  an- 
swered, with  a  sweet  glance  and  a  sweeter  smile,  "  it  is 
nobody  else  but  Sergeant  Jakes  himself." 

"  Me  !"  exclaimed  the  veteran  ;  "  whatever  have  I  done? 
You  know  that  I  would  be  the  last  in  all  the  world  to  vex 
you." 


256  PERLYCEOSS 

"  Oh,  it  is  because  you  are  so  fierce.  And  that,  of 
course,  is  because  you  are  so  brave." 

"  But,  my  dear — my  pretty  dear,  how  could  I  ever  be 
fierce  to  you  ?" 

"  Yes,  you  are  going  to  cane  my  brother  Billy  in  the 
morning." 

This  was  true  beyond  all  cavil — deeply  and  beautifully 
true.  The  sergeant  stared,  and  frowned  a  little.  Justice 
must  allow  no  dalliance. 

"And  oh,  he  has  got  such  chilblains,  sir!  Two  of 
them  broke  only  yesterday,  and  will  be  at  their  worst  in 
the  morning.  And  he  didn't  mean  it,  sir,  oh,  he  never 
meant  it,  when  he  called  you  an  *  old  beast !' " 

"  The  discipline  of  the  school  must  be  maintained." 
Mr.  Jakes  stroked  his  beard,  which  was  one  of  the  only 
pair  then  grown  in  the  parish  (the  other  being  Dr.  Gro- 
now's),  for  the  growth  of  a  beard  in  those  days  argued  a 
radical  and  cantankerous  spirit,  unless  it  were  that  of  a 
military  man.  Without  his  beard  Mr.  Jakes  would  not 
have  inspired  half  the  needful  awe ;  and  he  stroked  it 
now  with  dignity,  though  the  heart  beneath  it  was  indit- 
ing of  an  infra  dig.  idea.  "  Unhappily,  he  did  it,  miss,  in 
the  presence  of  the  other  boys.  It  cannot  be  looked 
over." 

"  Oh,  what  can  I  do,  sergeant  ?  What  can  I  do  ?  I'll 
do  anything  you  tell  me,  if  you'll  only  let  him  off." 

The  school-master  gave  a  glance  at  all  the  windows. 
They  were  well  above  the  level  of  the  ground  outside.  No 
one  could  peep  in  without  standing  on  a  barrel,  or  getting 
another  boy  to  give  him  a  leg-up. 

"  Tamar,  do  you  mean  what  you  say  ?"  he  inquired, 
with  a  glance  of  mingled  tenderness  and  ferocity — the  ten- 
derness for  her,  the  ferocity  for  her  brother. 

"  If  you  have  any  doubt  you  have  only  got  to  try  me. 
There  can't  be  any  harm  in  that  much,  can  there  j"  She 
looked  at  him  with  a  sly  twinkle  in  her  eyes,  as  much  as 
to  say,  "  Well  now,  come,  don't  be  so  bashful." 

Upon  that  temptation  this  long-tried  veteran  fell  from 
his  loyalty  and  high  position.  He  approached  the  too 
fascinating  damsel,  took  her  pretty  hand,  and  whispered 
something  through  her  lovely  curls.  Alas,  the  final  word 


A    SERMON    IN    STONE  257 

of  his  conditions  of  abject  surrender  was  one  which 
rhymed  with  "  this,"  or  "  Miss,"  or — that  which  it  should 
have  been  requited  with — a  hiss.  Oh,  Muggridge,  Mug- 
gridge,  where  were  you  ?  Just  stirring  a  cup  of  unbre- 
friended  tea,  and  meditating  on  this  man's  integrity  ! 

"  Oh,  you  are  too  bad,  too  bad,  sergeant !"  exclaimed  the 
young  girl,  starting  back,  with  both  hands  lifted,  and  a 
most  becoming  blush.  "  I  never  did — I  never  could  have 
thought  that  you  had  any  mind  for  such  trifles.  Why, 
what  would  all  the  people  say  if  I  were  only  to  men- 
tion it  ?" 

"  Nobody  would  believe  you,"  replied  Mr.  Jakes,  to 
quench  that  idea,  while  he  trembled  at  it ;  adding  thereby 
to  his  iniquities. 

"  Well,  perhaps  they  wouldn't.  No,  I  don't  believe 
they  would.  But  everybody  likes  a  bit  of  fun  some- 
times. But  we  won't  say  another  word  about  it." 

"  Won't  we  though  ?  I  have  got  a  new  cane,  Tamar — 
the  finest  I  ever  yet  handled  for  spring.  The  rarest  thing 
to  go  round  chilblains.  Bargain,  or  no  bargain,  now  ?" 

"  Bargain !"  she  cried  ;  "  but  I  couldn't  do  it  now.  It 
must  be  in  a  more  quieter  place.  Besides,  you  might  cheat 
me,  and  cane  him  after  all.  Oh,  it  is  too  bad,  too  bad  to 
thiuk  of.  Perhaps  I  might  try,  next  Sunday." 

"  But  where  shall  I  see  you  next  Sunday,  my  dear  ? 
'  Never  put  off ;  it  gives  time  for  to  scoff.'  Give  me  one 
now,  and  I'll  stick  to  it." 

"  No,  Sergeant  Jakes.  I  don't  like  to  tell  you,  and  my 
father  would  be  so  angry.  But  I  don't  see  what  right  he 
has  to  put  me  in  there.  And  oh,  it  is  so  lonely  !  And  I  am 
looking  out  for  ghosts,  and  never  have  a  happy  mouth- 
ful. That  old  woman  will  have  something  to  answer  for. 
But  it's  no  good  to  ask  me,  sergeant;  because  —  because 
ever  so  many  would  be  after  me,  if  they  only  got  a  hint 
of  it." 

This  of  course  was  meant  to  stop  him ;  but  somehow  it  had 
quite  the  opposite  effect ;  and  at  last  he  got  out  of  the  inno- 
cent girl  the  whole  tale  of  her  Sunday  seclusion.  The  very 
best  handmaid,  as  everybody  knows,  will  go  through  the 
longest  and  bitterest  bout  of  soaking,  shivering,  freezing, 
starving,  dragging  under  wheels,  and  being  blown  up  to 


258  PERLYCROSS 

the  sky,  rather  than  forego  her  "  Sunday  out."  Miss 
Tamar  Haddon  was  entitled  always  to  this  Sabbath 
travail ;  and  such  was  her  courage  that  have  it  she  would, 
though  it  blew  great  guns,  and  rained  cats  and  dogs. 

Now,  her  father,  as  may  have  been  said  before,  was 
Walter  Haddon  of  the  Ivy-bush,  as  respectable  a  man  as 
ever  lived,  and  very  fond  of  his  children.  This  made  him 
anxious  for  their  welfare ;  and  welfare  meaning  even 
then,  though  not  so  much  as  it  now  does,  fair  wealth, 
and  farewell  poverty,  Mr.  Haddon  did  his  best  to  please 
his  wealthy  aunt,  a  childless  widow  who  lived  at  Perly- 
combe.  For  this  old  lady  had  promised  to  leave  her 
money  among  his  children,  if  they  should  fail  to  offend 
her.  In  that  matter  it  was  a  hundredfold  easier  to  suc- 
ceed than  it  was  to  fail ;  for  her  temper  was  diabolical. 
Poor  Tamar,  being  of  flippant  tongue,  had  already  suc- 
ceeded fatally  ;  and  the  first  question  Mrs.  Pods  always 
asked  before  she  got  out  of  her  pony-carriage  was  worded 
thus  :  "  Is  that  minx  Tamar  in  the  house  ?" 

Whatever  the  weather  might  be,  this  lady  always  drove 
up  with  her  lame  pony  to  the  door  of  the  Ivy-bush  at  half- 
past  one  of  a  Sunday,  expecting  to  find  a  good  hot  dinner, 
and  hot  rum-and- water  afterwards.  For  all  this  refresh- 
ment she  never  paid  a  penny,  but  presented  the  children 
with  promises  of  the  fine  things  they  might  look  forward 
to.  And  thus,  like  too  many  other  rich  people,  she  kept 
all  her  capital  to  herself,  and  contrived  to  get  posthumous 
interest  upon  it  on  the  faith  of  contingent  remainders. 

Now,  Tamar's  mother  was  dead ;  and  her  father,  know- 
ing well  that  all  the  young  sparks  of  the  village  were  but 
as  the  spoils  of  her  bows  and  bonnets,  had  contrived  a 
very  clever  plan  for  keeping  her  clear  of  that  bitter  Mrs. 
Pods,  without  casting  her  into  the  way  of  yokel  youths 
and  spry  young  bachelors  of  low  degree.  At  the  back 
of  his  hostlery  stood  the  old  abbey,  covered  with  great 
festoons  of  ivy,  from  which  the  inn  probably  took  its 
name ;  and  the  only  entrance  to  the  ruins  was  by  the 
arched  gateway  at  the  end  of  his  yard,  other  approaches 
having  been  walled  up ;  and  the  key  of  the  tall  iron  gate 
was  kept  at  this  inn  for  the  benefit  of  visitors. 

The  walls  of  the  ancient  building  could  scarcely  be  seen 


A    SERMON    IN    STONE  259 

anywhere  for  the  ivy ;  and  the  cloisters  and  roofless  rooms 
inside  were  overgrown  with  grass  and  briers.  But  one 
large  chamber  at  the  end  of  the  passage  still  retained  its 
vaulted  ceiling  and  stone  pavement  scarred  with  age. 
Perhaps  it  had  been  the  refectory,  for  at  one  side  was  a 
deep  fireplace,  where  many  a  hearty  log  had  roared ;  at 
present  its  chief  business  was  to  refresh  Miss  Tamar 
Haddon.  A  few  sticks  kindled  in  the  old  fireplace,  and  a 
bench  from  the  kitchen  of  the  inn,  made  it  a  tolerable 
keeping-room,  at  least  in  the  hours  of  daylight ;  though 
at  night  the  bold  sergeant  himself  might  have  lacked  the 
courage  for  sound  slumber  there. 

To  this  place  was  the  fair  Tamar  banished,  for  the  sake 
of  the  money-bags  of  Mrs.  Pods,  from  half -past  one  till 
three  o'clock,  on  her  Sunday  visits  to  the  Ivy-bush. 
Hither  the  fair  maid  brought  her  dinner,  steaming  in  a 
basin  hot,  and  her  father's  account-book  of  rough  jottings, 
which  it  was  her  business  to  verify  and  interpret ;  for,  as 
is  the  duty  of  each  newer  generation,  she  had  attained  to 
higher  standard  of  ennobling  scholarship. 

In  a  few  words  now  she  gave  the  loving  sergeant  a 
sketch  of  this  time-serving  policy,  and  her  exile  from  the 
paternal  dinner  table,  which  aroused  his  gallant  wrath ; 
and  then  she  told  him  how  she  had  discovered  entrance 
unknown  to  her  father,  at  a  spot  where  a  thicket  of  syca- 
mores at  the  back  of  the  ruins  concealed  a  loop-hole  not 
very  difficult  to  scale.  She  could  make  her  escape  by 
that  way,  if  she  chose,  after  her  father  had  locked  her  in, 
if  it  were  not  for  spoiling  her  Sunday  frock.  And  if  her 
father  went  on  so,  for  the  sake  of  pleasing  that  ugly  old 
frump,  she  was  blest  if  she  would  not  try  that  plan,  and 
sit  on  the  river-bank  far  below,  as  soon  as  the  spring  dried 
up  the  rubbish.  But  if  the  sergeant  thought  it  worth 
his  while  to  come  and  afford  her  a  little  good  advice,  per- 
haps he  might  discover  her  Sunday  hat  waving  among 
the  ivy. 

This  enamoured  veteran  accepted  tryst  with  a  stout 
heart  but  frail  conscience.  The  latter  would  haply  have 
prevailed,  if  only  the  wind  had  the  gift  of  carrying  words 
which  the  human  being  does  not  utter,  but  thinks  and 
forms  internally.  For  the  sly  maid  to  herself  said  this, 


260  PERLYCROSS 

while  she  hastened  to  call  her  big  brother  Watty  to  see 
her  safe  back  to  Walderscourt. 

"  What  a  poor  old  noodle  !  As  if  I  cared  twopence 
how  much  he  whacks  Billy !  Does  he  think  I  would  ever 
let  him  come  anigh  me  if  it  wasn't  to  turn  him  inside 
out  ?  Now  if  it  were  Low  Jarks,  his  young  brother,  that 
would  be  quite  another  pair  of  shoes." 

On  the  following  Sunday  it  was  remarked,  by  even 
the  less  observant  boys,  that  their  venerated  master  was 
not  wearing  his  usual  pair  of  black  Sunday  breeches,  with 
purple  worsted  stockings  showing  a  wiry  and  muscular 
pair  of  legs.  Strange  to  say,  instead  of  those,  he  had  his 
second-best  small-clothes  on,  with  dark  brown  gaiters  to 
the  knee,  and  a  pair  of  thick  laced  shoes  instead  of  Sunday 
pumps  with  silk  rosettes.  So  wholly  unversed  in  craft, 
as  yet,  was  this  good  hero  of  a  hundred  fights.  Thyatira 
also  marked  this  change,  with  some  alarm  and  wonder ; 
but  little  dreamed  she  in  her  simple  faith  of  any  rival 
Delilah. 

Mr.  Penniloe's  sermon  that  Sunday  morning  was  of  a 
deeply  moving  kind.  He  felt  that  much  was  expected  of 
him,  after  his  visit  to  London,  where  he  must  have  seen 
the  King  and  Queen,  and  they  might  even  have  set  eyes  on 
him.  He  put  his  long-sight  glasses  on  so  that  he  could 
see  anybody  that  required  preaching  at ;  and  although  he 
was  never  a  cushion-thumper,  he  smote  home  to  many  a 
too  comfortable  bosom.  Then  he  gave  them  the  soft  end 
of  the  rod  to  suck,  as  a  conscientious  preacher  always 
does,  after  smiting  hip  and  thigh,  with  a  weapon  too  in- 
digenous. In  a  word,  it  was  an  admirable  sermon,  and 
one  even  more  to  be  loved  than  admired,  inasmuch  as  it 
tended  to  spread  good-will  among  men,  as  a  river  that  has 
its  source  in  heaven.  0 

Sergeant  Jakes,  with  his  stiff  stock  on,  might  be 
preached  at  forever  without  fetching  a  blink.  He  sat 
bolt  upright,  and  every  now  and  then  flapped  the  stump  of 
his  left  arm  against  his  sound  heart,  not  with  any  eager- 
ness to  drive  the  lesson  home,  but  in  proof  of  cordial  ap- 
probation of  hits  that  must  tell  upon  his  dear  friends 
round  about.  One  cut  especially  was  meant  for  Farmer 
John  ;  and  he  was  angry  with  that  thick-skinned  man  for 


A    SEKMON    IN    STONE  261 

staring  at  another  man  as  if  it  were  for  him.  And  then  there 
was  a  passage  that  was  certain  to  come  home  to  his  own 
brother  Robert,  who  began  to  slaughter  largely,  and  was 
taking  quite  money  enough  to  be  of  interest  to  the  pulpit. 
But  everybody  present  seemed  to  Jakes  to  be  applying 
everything  to  everybody  else  —  a  disinterested  process  of 
the  noblest  turn  of  thought. 

However,  those  who  have  much  faith — and  who  can  fail 
to  have  some  ? — in  the  exhortations  of  good  men  who  prac- 
tise their  own  preaching,  would  have  been  confirmed  in 
their  belief  by  this  man's  later  conduct.  Although  the 
body  of  the  church  had  been  reopened  for  some  weeks 
now,  with  the  tower-arch  finished  and  the  south  wall  re- 
built, yet  there  were  many  parts  still  incomplete,  especially 
the  chancel  where  the  fine  stone  screen  was  being  erected 
as  a  reredos ;  and  this  still  remained  in  the  builder's  hands, 
with  a  canvas  partition  hiding  it. 

When  the  congregation  had  dispersed,  Mr.  Jakes  slipped 
in  behind  that  partition  and  stood  by  a  piece  of  sculpture 
which  he  always  had  admired.  In  a  recess  of  the  north- 
ern wall  was  a  kneeling  figure  in  pure  white  marble  of  a 
beautiful  maiden,  claimed  by  death  on  the  very  eve  of  her 
wedding-day.  She  slept  in  the  Waldron  vaults  below,  while 
here  the  calm  sweet  face,  portrayed  in  substance  more 
durable  than  ours,  spoke  through  everlasting  silence  of 
tenderness,  purity,  and  the  more  exalted  love. 

The  sergeant  stood  with  his  hard  eyes  fixed  upon  that 
tranquil  countenance.  It  had  struck  him  more  than  once 
that  Tamar's  face  was  something  like  it ;  and  he  had  come 
to  see  whether  that  were  so.  He  found  that  he  had  been 
partly  right,  but  in  more  important  matters  wrong.  In 
profile,  general  outline,  and  the  rounding  of  the  cheeks, 
there  was  a  manifest  resemblance.  But  in  the  expression 
and  quality  of  the  faces,  what  a  difference  !  Here  all  was 
pure,  refined  and  noble,  gentle,  placid,  spiritual.  There 
all  was  tempting,  flashing,  tricksome,  shallow,  earthly,  sen- 
suous. 

He  did  not  think  those  evil  things,  for  he  was  not  a 
physiognomist ;  but  still  he  felt  the  good  ones ;  and  his 
mind  being  in  the  better  tone — through  commune  with 
the  preacher's  face,  which  does  more  than  the  words  some- 


262  PEELYCEOSS 

times,  when  all  the  heart  is  in  it — the  wonted  look  of  firm- 
ness, and  of  defiance  of  the  devil,  returned  to  his  weath- 
er-beaten face.  The  gables  of  his  eyebrows,  which  had 
expanded  and  grown  shaky,  came  back  to  their  proper  span 
and  set ;  he  nodded  sternly,  as  if  in  pursuit  of  himself  with 
a  weapon  of  chastisement;  and  his  mouth  closed  as  hard 
as  a  wrench-hammer  does  with  the  last  turn  of  the  screw 
upon  it.  Then  he  sneered  at  himself,  and  sighed  as  he 
passed  the  empty  grave  of  his  colonel — what  would  that 
grand  old  warrior  have  thought  of  this  desertion  to  the 
enemy  ? 

But,  ashamed  as  he  was  of  his  weak  surrender  and 
treachery  to  his  colours,  his  pride  and  plighted  word  com- 
pelled him  to  complete  his  enterprise.  The  abbey  stood 
near  the  church-yard  wall,  but  on  that  side  there  was  no 
entrance  ;  and  to  get  at  the  opposite  face  of  the  buildings, 
a  roundabout  way  must  be  taken  ;  and  Jakes  resolved  now 
that  he  would  not  skulk  by  the  lower  path  from  the  corner, 
but  walk  boldly  across  the  meadow  from  the  lane  that  led 
to  Perlycombe.  This  was  a  back  way  with  no  house  upon 
it,  and,  according  to  every  one's  belief,  here  must  have 
lurked  that  horse  and  cart  on  the  night  of  that  awful  out- 
rage. 

Even  to  a  one-handed  man,  there  was  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  entering  one  of  the  desolate  courts  by  the  loop- 
hole from  the  thicket ;  and  there  he  met  the  fair  recluse 
in  a  manner  rather  disappointing  to  her.  Not  that  she 
cared  at  all  to  pursue  her  light  flirtation  with  him,  but  that 
her  vanity  was  shocked  when  he  failed  to  demand  his 
sweet  reward.  And  he  called  her  "  Miss  Haddon,"  and 
treated  her  with  a  respect  she  did  not  appreciate.  But 
she  led  him  to  her  lonely  bower,  and  roused  up  the  fire  for 
him,  for  the  weather  was  becoming  more  severe,  and  she 
rallied  him  on  his  clemency,  which  had  almost  amount- 
ed to  weakness,  ever  since  he  allowed  her  brother  Billy  to 
escape. 

"  Fair  is  fair,  miss,"  the  master  answered,  pensively. 
"  As  soon  as  you  begin  to  let  one  off,  you  are  bound  to 
miss  the  rest  of  them." 

"  Who  have  they  got  to  thank  for  that  ?  I  am  afraid 
they  will  never  know,"  she  said,  with  one  of  her  most  be- 


A    SERMON    IN    STONE  263 

witching  smiles,  as  she  came  and  sat  beside  him.  "  Poor 
little  chaps !  How  can  I  thank  you  for  giving  them  such 
a  nice  time,  sergeant  ?" 

The  veteran  wavered  for  a  moment,  as  that  comely  face 
came  nigh,  and  the  glossy  hair  she  had  contrived  to  loosen 
fell  almost  on  his  shoulders.  She  had  dressed  herself  in  a 
killing  manner,  while  a  lover's  knot  of  mauve-coloured  rib- 
bon relieved  the  dulness  of  her  frock,  and  enhanced  the 
whiteness  of  her  slender  neck.  But,  for  all  that,  the  ser- 
geant was  not  to  be  killed,  and  his  mind  was  prepared  for 
the  crisis.  He  glanced  around  first,  not  for  fear  of  any- 
body, but  as  if  he  desired  witnesses  ;  and  then  he  arose 
from  the  bench,  and  looked  at  this  seductive  maiden  with 
eyes  that  had  a  steady  sparkle,  hard  to  be  discomfited  by 
any  storm  of  flashes. 

"  Tamar,"  he  said,  "  let  us  come  to  the  point.  I  have 
been  a  fool,  and  you  know  it.  You  are  very  young,  but 
somehow  you  know  it.  Now,  have  you  meant,  from  first 
to  last,  that  you  would  ever  think  of  marrying  me  ?" 

It  never  should  have  been  put  like  that.  Why,  you 
must  never  say  a  word,  nor  use  your  eyes  except  for  read- 
ing, nor  even  look  in  your  looking-glass,  if  things  are  taken 
in  that  way. 

"  Oh,  sergeant,  how  you  frighten  me  !  I  suppose  I 
am  never  to  smile  again.  Who  ever  dreamed  of  marry- 
ing?" 

"Well,  I  did,"  he  answered,  with  a  twinkle  of  his  eyes 
and  squaring  of  his  shoulders.  "  I  am  riot  too  old  for 
everybody,  but  I  am  much  too  old  for  you.  Do  you  think 
I  would  have  come  here  else  ?  But  it  is  high  time  to  stop 
this  fun." 

"  I  don't  call  it  fun  at  all,"  said  Tamar,  fetching  a  lit- 
tle sob  of  fright.  "  What  makes  you  look  so  cross  at 
me?" 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  look  cross,  my  dear."  The  ser- 
geant's tender  heart  was  touched.  "I  should  be  a  brute 
if  I  looked  cross.  It  is  the  way  the  Lord  has  made  my 
eyes.  Perhaps  they  would  never  do  for  married  life." 

"  That's  the  way  all  of  them  look,"  said  Tamar,  "  unless 
they  get  everything  they  want.  But  you  didn't  look  like 
that  last  Sunday." 


264  PEKLYCKOSS 

"No.  But  I  ought.  Now  settle  this:  Would  you  ever 
think  of  marrying  me  ?" 

"  No.  Not  on  no  account.  You  may  be  sure  of  that. 
Not  even  if  you  was  dipped  in  diamonds."  The  spirit 
of  the  girl  was  up,  and  her  true  vulgarity  came  out. 

"  According  to  my  opinion  of  you,  that  would  make  all 
the  difference,"  said  the  sergeant,  also  firing  up.  "  And 
now,  Miss  Haddon,  let  us  say  'Good-bye.'" 

"  Let  me  come  to  myself,  dear  Sergeant  Jakes.  I  never 
meant  to  be  rude  to  you.  But  they  do  court  me  so  differ- 
ent. Sit  down  for  a  minute.  It  is  so  lonely,  and  I  have 
heard  such  frightful  things.  Father  won't  be  coming  for 
half  an  hour  yet.  And,  after  the  way  you  went  on,  I  am 
so  nervous.  How  my  heart  goes  pit-a-pat!  You  brave 
men  cannot  understand  such  things." 

At  this  moving  appeal  Mr.  Jakes  returned  and  endeav- 
oured to  allay  her  terrors. 

"  It  is  all  about  those  dreadful  men,"  she  said  ;  "  I  can- 
not sleep  at  night  for  thinking  of  them.  You  know  all 
about  them.  If  you  could  only  tell  me  what  you  are  do- 
ing to  catch  them.  They  say  that  you  have  found  out 
where  they  went,  and  are  going  to  put  them  in  jail  next 
week.  Is  it  true  ?  People  do  tell  such  stories.  But  you 
found  it  all  out  by  yourself,  and  you  know  all  the  rights 
of  it." 

With  a  little  more  coaxing  and  trembling  and  gasping, 
she  contrived  to  get  out  of  him  all  that  he  knew  concern- 
ing the  matter  to  the  present  time.  Crang  had  identified 
the  impressions  as  the  footmarks  of  the  disabled  horse, 
and  a  search  of  the  cave  by  torchlight  showed  that  it 
must  have  been  occupied  lately.  A  large  button  with  a 
raised  rim,  such  as  are  used  on  sailor's  overalls,  had  been 
found  near  the  entrance,  and  inside  were  prints  of  an 
enormous  boot,  too  big  for  any  man  in  Perlycross.  Also, 
the  search  had  been  carried  farther,  and  the  tracks  of  a 
horse  and  a  narrow-wheeled  cart  could  be  made  out  here 
and  there,  until  a  rough  flinty  lane  was  come  to,  leading 
over  the  moors  to  the  Honiton  road.  All  these  things 
were  known  to  Dr.  Fox,  and  most  of  them  to  Mr.  Penni- 
loe,  who  had  just  returned  from  London,  and  the  matter 
was  now  in  skilful  hands.  But  everything  must  be  kept 


A    SEEMON    IN    STONE  265 

very  quiet,  or  the  chance  of  pursuing  the  clew  might  be 
lost. 

Tamar  vowed  solemnly  that  she  would  never  tell  a  word  ; 
and  away  went  the  sergeant,  well  pleased  with  himself,  as 
the  bells  began  to  ring  for  the  afternoon  service. 
12 


CHAPTER    XXVI 
THE     OLD     MILL 

COMBING  up  on  the  south  like  a  great  tidal  wave,  Hag- 
don  Hill  for  miles  looks  down  on  the  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Perle,  and  then  at  the  western  end  breaks  down  into 
steep  declivities  and  wooded  slopes.  Here  the  Susscot 
brook  has  its  sources  on  the  southern  side  of  the  long, 
gaunt  range  outside  the  parish  of  Perlycross ;  and  gather- 
ing strength  at  every  stretch  from  flinty  trough  and  mossy 
runnel,  is  big  enough  to  trundle  an  old  millwheel  a  long 
while  before  it  gets  to  Joe  Crang's  forge. 

This  mill  is  situated  very  sweetly  for  those  who  love  to 
be  outside  the  world.  It  stands  at  the  head  of  a  winding 
hollow  fringed  along  the  crest  with  golden  gorse,  wild 
roses  by  the  thousand,  and  the  silvery  gleam  of  birch. 
Up  this  pretty  "  goyal,"  as  they  call  it,  there  is  a  fine 
view  of  the  ancient  mill — lonely,  decrepit,  and  melancholy 
— with  the  flints  dropping  out  of  its  scarred  wall-face,  the 
tattered  thatch  rasping  against  the  wind,  and  the  big  wheel 
dribbling  idly  ;  for  the  wooden  carrier  that  used  to  keep 
it  splashing  and  spinning  merrily  sprawls  away  on  its 
trestles,  itself  a  wreck,  broken-backed  and  bulging. 

And  yet  in  its  time  this  mill  has  done  well,  and  pound- 
ed the  corn  of  a  hundred  farms ;  for,  strange  as  it  may 
be,  the  Perle  itself  is  exceedingly  shy  of  mill-work,  being 
broken  upon  no  wheel  save  those  of  the  staring  and  white- 
washed factory  which  disfigures  the  village  of  Perlycross. 
Therefore  from  many  miles  around  came  cart  and  butt  and 
van  and  wain  to  this  out-of-the-way  and  hard-to-find  but 
flourishing  and  useful  Tremlett  mill.  That  its  glory  has 
departed  and  its  threshold  is  deserted,  came  to  pass  through 
no  fault  of  wheel  or  water,  or  even  wanton  trade  seduced 
by  younger  rivals.  Man  alone  was  to  blame,  and  he  could 


THE    OLD    MILL  267 

not — seldom  incapable  as  he  is  of  that — even  put  the  fault 
on  woman. 

The  Tremletts  were  of  very  ancient  race,  said  to  be  of 
Norman  origin,  and  this  mill  had  been  theirs  for  genera- 
tions. Thrifty,  respectable,  and  hard-working,  they  had 
worn  out  many  millstones — one  of  which  had  been  set  up 
in  the  church-yard,  an  honour  to  itself  and  owner — and 
patched  up  a  'lot  of  ages  of  millwheels  (the  only  useful 
revolution)  until  there  came  into  the  small  human  sluice  a 
thread  of  vile  weed  that  clogged  everything  up — a  vein  of 
bad  blood  that  tainted  all — varicose,  sluggish,  intractable. 

What  man  can  explain  such  things,  even  to  his  own 
satisfaction  ?  Yet  everybody  knows  that  it  is  so,  and  too 
often  with  the  people  who  have  been  in  front  of  him. 
Down  went  the  Tremletts  for  a  hundred  years — quite  a 
trifle  to  such  an  old  family — and  the  wheel  ceased  to  turn, 
and  the  hearth  had  nought  to  burn,  and  the  brook  took  to 
running  in  a  low,  perverted  course. 

But  even  sad  things  may  be  beautiful,  like  the  grandest 
of  all  human  tragedies ;  and  here  before  Mr.  Penniloe's 
new  long-sighted  glasses,  which  already  had  a  fine  effect 
upon  his  mind,  was  a  new  sight,  worth  all  the  three  sov- 
ereigns he  had  paid,  in  addition  to  the  three  he  had  lived 
under.  No  monarch  of  the  world — let  alone  this  little 
isle — could  have  gilded  and  silvered  and  pearled  and  jew- 
elled his  most  sumptuous  palace  and  his  chambers  of  de- 
light with  a  tithe  of  the  beauty  here  set  forth  by  nature, 
whose  adornments  come  and  go  at  every  breath. 

For  there  had  just  been  another  heavy  fall  of  snow,  and 
the  frost  having  firm  hold  of  the  air,  the  sun  had  no  more 
power  than  a  great  white  star,  glistening  rather  than  shin- 
ing, and  doubtful  of  his  own  dominion  in  the  multitude  of 
sparkles.  Everything  that  stood  across  the  light  was  clad 
with  dazzling  raiment;  branch  and  twig  and  reed  and 
osier,  pillowed  with  lace  of  snow  above  and  fringed  with 
chenille  of  rime  below.  Under  and  through  this  arcade 
of  radiance  stood  the  old  millwheel  —  for  now  it  could 
stand — black  and  massive,  and  leaning  on  pellucid  pillars 
of  glistening  ice. 

Mr.  Penniloe  lifted  up  his  heart  to  God,  as  he  always 
did  at  any  of  His  glorious  works,  and  then  he  proceeded 


268  PEELYCEOSS 

to  his  own  less  brilliant  but  equally  chilling  duty.  Several 
times  he  knocked  vainly  at  the  rickety  door  of  the  remain- 
ing room,  until  at  last  a  harsh  voice  cried,  "Come  in, 
can't  'e  ?  Nort  for  'e  to  steal  here." 

Then  he  pulled  the  leather  thong,  an  old  boot-lace,  and 
the  grimy  wooden  latch  clicked  up,  and  the  big  door  stag- 
gered inward.  Everything  looked  cold  and  weist  and 
haggard  in  the  long,  low  room  he  entered,  and  hunger- 
stricken,  though  of  solid  fabric  once,  and  even  now  tolera- 
bly free  from  dirt.  At  the  farther  end,  and  in  a  gloomy 
recess,  was  a  large,  low  bedstead  of  ancient  oak,  carved 
very  boldly  and  with  finely  flowing  lines.  Upon  it  lay  a 
very  aged  woman  of  large  frame  and  determined  face, 
wearing  a  high  yellow  cap,  and  propped  by  three  coarse 
pillows,  upon  which  fell  the  folds  of  a  French  shawl  of 
rich  material. 

She  had  thick  eyebrows,  still  as  black  as  a  coal,  and 
fierce  gray  eyes  with  some  fire  in  them  still,  and  a  hooked 
nose  that  almost  overhung  a  pointed  chin,  and  her  long 
bony  arms  lay  quivering  upon  a  quilt  of  well-worn  patch- 
work. She  looked  at  Mr.  Penniloe,  discerning  him  clearly 
without  the  aid  of  spectacles,  and  saluted  him  with  a  slight 
disdainful  nod. 

"  Oh,  passon,  is  it  ?  Well,  what  have  'e  got  to  say  to 
me  ?"  Her  voice  was  hard  and  pitched  rather  high,  and 
her  gaunt  jaws  worked  with  a  roll  of  wrinkles  intended  for 
a  playful  grin. 

"  Mrs.  Tremlett,  I  was  told  that  you  wished  to  see  me, 
and  that  it  is  a  solemn  moment  with  you — that  soon  you 
will  stand  in  the  presence  of  a  merciful  but  righteous 
Judge." 

Mr.  Penniloe  approached  her  with  a  kind  and  gentle 
look,  and  offered  to  take  one  of  her  clinched  and  with- 
ered hands ;  but  she  turned  the  knuckles  to  him  with  a 
sudden  twist,  and  so  sharp  were  they  that  they  almost 
cut  his  palm.  He  drew  back  a  little,  and  a  flash  of 
spiteful  triumph  told  him  that  she  had  meant  this  rasper 
for  him. 

"  Bain't  a-gwain'  to  die  yet,"  she  said ;  "  I  be  only  nine- 
ty-one, and  my  own  moother  wor  ninety-five  afore  her  lost 
a  tooth.  I  reckon  I  shall  see  'e  out  yet,  Master  Passon ; 


THE    OLD    MILL  269 

for  'e  don't  look  very  brave — no,  that  'e  don't.  Wants  a 
little  drap  out  o'  my  bottle,  I  conzider." 

The  clergyman  feared  that  there  was  little  to  be  done ; 
but  he  never  let  the  devil  get  the  best  of  him,  and  he 
betook  himself  to  one  of  his  most  trustworthy  resources. 

"  Mrs.  Tremlett,  I  will,  with  your  permission,  offer  a  few 
simple  words  of  prayer,  not  only  for  you,  but  for  myself, 
my  friend.  You  can  repeat  the  words  after  me,  if  you 
feel  disposed." 

"  Stop  !"  she  cried,  "  stop  !"  and  threw  out  both  hands 
with  great  vigour  as  he  prepared  to  kneel.  "  Why,  you  ha'n't 
gi'en  me  the  zhillin'  yet.  You  always  gives  Betty  Cork  a 
zhillin'  afore  'e  begins  to  pray  to  her.  Bain't  my  soul 
worth  every  penny  of  what  Betty  Cork's  be  ?" 

The  parson  was  distressed  at  this  inverted  view  of  the 
value  of  his  ministrations.  Nevertheless  he  pulled  out 
the  shilling,  which  she  clapped  with  great  promptitude 
under  her  pillow,  and  then  turned  her  back  upon  him. 

"  Goo  on  now,  passon,  as  long  as  ever  'e  wull }  but  not 
too  much  noise  like,  case  I  might  drop  off  to  sleep." 

Her  attitude  was  not  too  favourable ;  but  the  curate  had 
met  with  many  cases  quite  as  bad,  and  he  never  allowed 
himself  to  be  discouraged.  And  something  perhaps  in  his 
simple  words,  or  the  powers  of  his  patient  humility,  gave 
a  better  and  a  softer  turn  to  the  old  woman's  moody 
mind. 

"Passon,  be  you  a  honest  man?"  she  inquired,  when  he 
had  risen,  pronouncing  the  "h"  in  "honest"  very  strongly, 
as  is  often  done  in  Devonshire.  "  B'lieve  'e  be  a  good 
man.  But  be  'e  honest  ?" 

"  My  goodness,  as  you  call  it,  would  be  very  small  in- 
deed, unless  I  were  honest,  Mrs.  Tremlett.  Without  hon- 
esty all  is  hypocrisy." 

"  And  you  bain't  no  hypocrite  ;  though  'e  may  be  a  vule. 
Most  fine  scholards  is  big  vules,  and  half-scholards  always 
maketh  start  for  rogues.  But  I'll  trust  'e,  passon ;  and 
the  Lord  will  strike  'e  dead,  being  in  his  white  sleeves,  if 
'e  goo  again  the  truth.  What  do  'e  say  to  that,  Passon 
Penniloe  ?  What  do  'e  think  of  that  there  ?  And  thee 
praying  for  me,  as  if  I  hadn't  got  ne'er  a  coffin's  worth !" 

The  old  lady  pulled  out  a  canvas  bag,  and  jingled  it 


270  PEKLYCEOSS 

against  Mr.  Penniloe's  gray  locks.  Strong  vitality  was  in 
her  face.  How  could  she  die,  with  all  that  to  live  for  ? 

"  Vifty-two  guineas  of  Jarge  the  Zecond.  T'other  come 
to  the  throne  afore  I  did  it ;  but  his  head  wasn't  out 
much,  and  they  might  goo  back  of  his  'en.  So  I  took 
'un  of  the  man  as  come  afore,  and  there  they  has 
been  ever  since — threescore  years,  and  ten,  and  two. 
The  Lord  knoweth,  if  He  reckon'th  up  the  sparrows,  what 
a  fine  young  woman  I  were  then.  There  bain't  such  a 
one  in  all  the  county  now.  Six  foot  high,  twenty  inch 
across  the  shoulders,  and  as  straight  as  a  hazel  wand 
sucker'd  from  the  root.  Have  mercy  on  you,  passon  ! 
Your  wife,  as  used  to  come  to  see  me,  was  a  very  purty 
woman.  But  in  the  time  of  my  delight  I  could  a'  taken 
her  with  one  hand,  and  done — well,  chucked  her  over 
Horseshoe." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?"  Mr.  Penniloe  asked,  and  his 
quiet  eyes  bore  down  the  boastful  gaze,  and  altered  the 
tone  of  the  old  virago. 

"  Nort,  sir,  nort.  It  bain't  no  use  to  worrit  me.  Her 
tumbled  off  the  clift,  and  her  bruk  her  purty  nack.  Her 
was  spying  too  much  after  coney's  holes,  I  reckon. 
But  her  always  waz  that  tender-hearted.  You  bain't  fit  to 
hold  a  can'le  to  her,  with  all  your  precious  prayers  and  lit- 
anies. But  I'll  trust  'e,  passon,  for  her  zake.  Vetch 
thiccy  old  book  out  o'  cubbert." 

In  the  cupboard  near  the  fireplace  he  found  an  ancient 
Bible,  bound  in  black  leather,  and  fortified  with  silver 
clasps  and  corners. 

"  Hold  that  there  book  in  your  right  hand,  and  this 
here  bag  in  t'other ;"  the  old  lady  still  clave  to  the  bag, 
as  if  far  more  precious  than  the  Bible — "  and  then  you 
say  slowly  after  me,  same  as  I  was  to  do  the  prayers,  "  I, 
Passon  Penniloe,  of  Perlycross,  Christian  minister,  do 
hereby  make  oath  and  swear  that  I  will  do  with  this  bag 
of  money  as  Zipporah  Tremlett  telleth  me,  so  help  me 
God  Almighty." 

"  Stop,  if  you  please.  I  will  make  no  such  promise 
until  I  know  all  about  it ;"  objected  Mr.  Penniloe,  while 
she  glared  at  him  with  rising  anger,  and  then  nodded  as 
something  occurred  to  her. 


THE    OLD    MILL  271 

"  Well,  then,  I'll  tell  'e  fust ;  and  no  call  for  prabbles. 
This  money  bain't  none  o'  they  Tremletts  ;  every  farden  of 
theirs  is  gone  long  ago,  although  they  had  ten  times  so 
much  as  this,  even  while  I  can  mind  of  'un.  All  this,  ex- 
cept for  a  bit  of  a  sto'un  in  the  lower  cornder,  and  that 
hath  been  hundreds  of  years  with  the  Tremletts,  but  all 
the  rest  cometh  from  my  own  father,  and  none  on  'em 
knoweth  a  word  of  it.  Wouldn't  believe  if  they  did,  I 
reckon.  Zippy,  that's  my  granddarter  as  minds  me,  her 
hath  orders  to  hum  for  her  life  and  vetch  you — night  or 
day,  mind — fust  moment  the  breath  be  gone  out  of  my 
body.  And  every  varden  of  it  is  for  she.  You  be  to 
take  it  from  this  here  little  nestie,  wi'out  a  word  to  no 
one,  and  keep  it  zealed  up  under  lock  and  key,  till  Zippy 
be  eighteen  year  of  age,  and  then,  accordm'  to  your  oath, 
you  putt  it  into  her  two  hands.  If  'e  do  that,  passon, 
I'll  die  a  Christian,  arid  you  be  welcome  of  me  to  your 
church-yard.  But  if  'e  'on't  do  it,  then  I'll  die  a  hathen, 
and  never  go  to  no  church-yard,  same  as  scores  and  scores 
of  the  Tremletts  is.  Now,  do  'e  care  for  the  soul  of  an 
old  'ooman  ?  Or  would  'e  soonder  her  went  to  the  devil?" 

By  this  alternative  the  curate  felt  much  pressure  put 
upon  his  conscience.  If  there  were  no  other  way  to  save 
her,  he  must  even  dispense  with  legal  form,  and  accept  a 
trust  which  might  for  all  he  knew  defraud  the  revenue 
of  legacy-duty,  and  even  some  honest  solicitor  of  a  con- 
tribution to  his  livelihood.  But  first  he  must  be  certain 
that  the  scheme  was  just  and  rational. 

"  No  fear  of  robbing  nobody.  They  Tremletts  be  a 
shocking  lot,"  she  said,  with  amiable  candour.  "Just  slip 
the  wedge  on  top  of  latch,  for  fear  one  on  'em  should 
come  to  see  if  I  be  dead ;  though,  I  reckon,  this  weather 
it  would  be  too  much  for  either  son  or  darter.  Wouldn't 
'em  hum,  if  'emknowed  of  this?  But  here  I  may  lie  and 
be  worm-eaten.  And  chillers  of  my  own — my  own  buys 
and  girls.  Dree-quarters  of  a  score  I've  had,  and  not 
one  on  'em  come  anigh  me !  Never  was  a  harrier-bird 
could  fly  so  fast  as  every  one  on  'em  would  to  this  old 
bed,  if  'em  knowed  what  be  in  it.  No,  I  be  a  liar — every 
one  on  'em  can't,  because  the  biggest  half  be  gone. 
Twelve  buys  there  was,  and  dree  wenches  of  no  'count. 


272  PEKLYCKOSS 

Dree  buys  was  hanged,  back  in  the  time  of  Jarge  the 
Third,  to  Exeter  jail,  for  ship-staling,  and  one  to  Gibbet- 
moor,  for  what  a'  did  upon  the  road.  Your  on  'em  was 
sent  over  seas,  for  running  a  few  bits  of  goods  from 
France.  Two  on  'em  be  working  to  Whetstone  pits,  'cord- 
ing to  their  own  account,  though  I  reckon  they  does 
another  sort  of  job  now  and  again.  And  as  for  t'other 
two,  the  Lord,  or  the  devil,  knoweth  what  be  come  to 
they.  Not  one  on  'em  comes  nigh  poor  old  moother, 
who  might  a'  died  years  ago  'cept  for  little  Zippy. 
Though  little  Zip's  father  have  a'  been  here  now  and  then. 
The  biggest  and  the  wildest  of  the  dozen  I  call  him,  though 
a'  kapeth  wonderful  out  of  jail.  'Tis  his  cheel  he  comes 
to  see,  not  his  poor  old  moother.  Look  'e  'ere,  passon,  all 
the  ins  and  outs  of  'un  be  set  down  rarely  in  that  there 
Book ;  same  as  the  game  with  lines  and  crosses  we  used 
to  play  with  a  oyster  -  shell,  fourscore  years  agone  and 
more." 

On  three  or  four  leaves  of  the  ancient  Bible,  bound  in 
for  that  purpose,  was  a  pedigree  of  these  Tremletts  of  the 
Mill,  descending  from  the  fourteenth  century.  Mr.  Pen- 
niloe  looked  at  it  with  no  small  interest.  What  a  pity  to 
find  them  come  to  this  !  The  mill  itself  had  been  a  fall, 
no  doubt;  but  the  Whetstone  pits  were  a  great  descent 
from  that. 

"  Tremletts  has  always  had  one  or  two  fine  scholards" 
— the  old  woman  had  a  strange  theory  about  this.  "  'Twor 
all  along  o'  that  they  come  down  so.  Whenever  any  man 
taketh  much  to  books,  a'  stoppeth  up  his  ears  to  good  ad- 
vice, and  a'  heedeth  of  his  head-piece,  and  robbeth  of  's 
own  belly.  But  there,  no  matter.  I  can  do  a  bit  myself. 
Have  'e  made  up  your  mind  about  my  poor  soul?" 

From  the  toss  of  her  nose,  Mr.  Penniloe  was  afraid  that 
she  was  not  much  in  earnest  about  that  little  matter.  And 
in  common-sense,  he  was  loath  to  get  entangled  with  the 
nettles  and  briers  of  such  a  queer  lot. 

"  I  think,  Mrs.  Tremlett,"  he  said,  with  a  smile  contain- 
ing some  light  of  wavering,  "  that  your  wisest  plan  by  far 
would  be  to  have  a  short  will  drawn  up,  and  leave  the 
money — " 

"  Gi'e  me  my  bag,  and  go  thy  ways,"  she  screamed  in  a 


THE    OLD   MILL  273 

fury,  though  the  bag  was  in  her  claws.  "  No  church-yard 
for  me,  and  my  soul  at  thy  door,  thou  white-livered,  black- 
smocked  passon  !" 

Her  passion  struck  into  her  lungs  or  throat,  and  she 
tore  at  her  scraggy  chest  to  ease  the  pain  and  gripe  of  a 
violent  coughing-fit.  Mr.  Penniloe  supported  her  massive 
head,  for  if  it  fell  back  it  might  never  rise  again. 

"  A  drap  out  o'  bottle  !"  she  gasped  at  last,  pointing 
to  the  cupboard  where  the  Bible  had  been.  He  propped 
up  her  head  with  a  pillow  on  end,  and  took  from  the  cup- 
board a  long-necked  bottle  of  the  best  French  brandy  and 
a  metal  pannikin. 

"  No  watter  !  No  watter !"  the  old  woman  shrieked,  as 
he  went  towards  a  pitcher  that  stood  by  the  chimney. 
"  Watter  spileth  all.  No  vear !  Vill  up  !" 

He  gave  her  the  pannikin  full,  and  she  tipped  it  off  like 
a  mouthful  of  milk,  and  then  sat  up  and  looked  at  him 
steadily. 

"  I  be  no  drunkard,"  she  said,  "  though  a  man  as  know- 
eth  nort  might  vancy  it.  Never  touches  that  stuff,  excep' 
for  physic.  I've  a  seed  too  much  what  comes  of  that. 
Have  a  drap,  wull  'e  ?  Clane  glass  over  yanner." 

She  seemed  annoyed  again  at  his  refusal,  but  presently 
subsided  into  a  milder  vein,  as  if  she  were  soothed  by  the 
mighty  draught  instead  of  becoming  excited. 

"  Naden't  have  troubled  'e,  passon,"  she  said,  "  but  for 
zending  of  little  Zip  away.  I'll  tell  'e  why,  now  just.  Bet- 
ter cheel  never  lived  than  little  Zip.  Her  tendeth  old 
granny  night  and  day,  though  her  getteth  a  tap  on  the 
head  now  and  then.  But  her  mustn't  know  of  this  here 
money,  or  her  father  'd  have  it  out  of  her  in  two  zeconds. 
Now  'e  see  why  I  won't  make  no  will.  Now,  will  'e  do 
what  I  axed  of  'e  ?" 

After  some  hesitation  the  parson  gave  his  promise.  He 
had  heard  from  his  wife  about  poor  little  Zip,  and  how 
faithful  she  was  to  her  old  grandmother,  and  he  felt  that 
it  would  be  unfair  to  the  child  to  deprive  her  of  the 
chance  in  life  this  money  might  procure ;  while  he  knew 
that  if  he  declined  the  trust,  not  a  penny  would  she  ever 
see  of  it.  He  insisted,  however,  upon  one  precaution — 
that  the  owner  should  sign  a  memorandum  of  the  gift, 
12* 


274  PEELYCKOSS 

and  place  it  with  the  guineas  in  the  bag,  and  then  hand 
the  whole  to  him  as  trustee,  completing  by  delivery  the 
donatio  mortis  causA.  In  spite  of  her  sufferings  from  the 
ruinous  effects  of  the  higher  education,  Zipporah  could 
sign  her  name  very  fairly,  and  a  leaf  of  her  grandchild's 
copy-book  served  very  well  for  the  memorial  prepared  by 
Mr.  Penniloe. 

"  Now  rouse  up  the  fire  there,  'e  must  be  vroze  a'most," 
Mrs.  Tremlett  said  when  that  was  finished,  and  she  had 
shown  him  where  she  concealed  the  treasure.  "  *  One  good 
toorn  desarves  another,'  as  I've  heerd  say,  though  never 
had  much  chance  of  proving  it ;  and  I  could  tell  'e  a  thing 
or  two  'e  might  be  glad  to  know,  Passon  Penniloe,  wi'out 
doing  harm  to  nobody.  Fust  place,  then,  you  mind  hear- 
ing of  the  man  as  gi'ed  that  doiled  zany  of  a  blacksmith 
such  a  turn — how  long  agone  was  it?  I  can't  say  justly ; 
but  the  night  after  Squire  Waldron's  vuneral." 

"  To  be  sure.  The  big  man  with  the  lame  horse,  at 
Susscot  ford." 

"  Well,  that  was  my  son  Harvey,  little  Zip's  father. 
You  see  the  name  in  big  Bible.  French  name  it  waz 
then,  spelled  different,  and  with  a  stroke  to  the  tail,  as 
maight  be.  Tremletts  had  a  hankering  after  foreign  lan- 
guages. See  'un  all  down  the  page  you  can." 

"  What,  Mrs.  Tremlett !"  exclaimed  the  parson.  "  Are 
you  aware  what  you  are  doing  ?  Informing  against  your 
own  son — and  one  of  the  very  few  remaining !" 

"Zober  now,  zober!  Don't  'e  be  a  vule,  passon.  I 
knows  well  enough  what  I  be  adoing  of.  Just  I  wants 
'un  out  of  way,  till  arter  I  be  buried  like.  I  zent  his  little 
darter  to  the  pits  to-day,  to  tell  'un  as  how  you  knowed 
of  it.  That  '11  mak'  'un  cut  sticks,  till  I  be  underground, 
I  reckon." 

As  the  old  woman  grinned  and  nodded  at  her  own  sa- 
gacity, a  horrible  idea  crossed  the  mind  of  Mr.  Penniloe. 
Could  she  be  afraid  that  her  own  son  would  dig  up  her 
body  and  dispose  of  it  ? 

Before  he  had  condemned  himself  for  such  a  vile  sus- 
picion Mrs.  Tremlett  seemed  to  have  read  his  thoughts ; 
for  she  smiled  with  bitter  glory,  as  if  she  had  caught  a 
pious  man  yielding  to  impiety. 


THE    OLD   MILL  275 

"  No,  Harvey  bain't  no  body-snatcher — leastways  not  as 
I  ever  heer'd  on ;  though  most  volk  would  say  a'  was  bad 
enough  for  anything.  All  that  I  wants  'un  out  of  way 
for  is  that  he  mayn't  have  the  chance  to  rob  his  darter. 
He  loveth  of  the  little  maid  so  much  as  Old  Nick  'loweth 
him.  But  he  could  never  kape  his  hands  out  of  this  here 
bag  if  a'  zeed  'un.  And  as  for  your  folk  doin'  any  hurt 
to  'un,  'twould  be  more  use  for  'e  to  drive  nails  into  a 
shadow  than  to  lay  hold  of  Harvey  when  he  knoweth  you 
be  arter  'un.  And  even  if  'e  wor  to  vind  'un,  man  alive,  it 
would  be  a  bad  job  for  you,  or  for  zix  such  men  as  you  be, 
to  come  nigh  the  hands  of  Harvey  Tremlett.  Yolk  about 
these  parts  don't  know  nort  of  'un,  else  they'd  have  had 
'un  for  the  'rastling  long  ago.  He  hath  been  out  a  good 
deal  among  the  gypsies  and  sailor-folk  and  so  on;  and 
the  Lord  knows  He  mustn't  look  for  too  very  much  of 
good  in  'un." 

"  We  must  make  allowances,  Mrs.  Tremlett.  We  never 
do  justice  to  our  fellow-men,  in  that  way."  Mr.  Penniloe 
was  saying  to  himself,  while  he  spoke — "  and  a  great  deal 
must  be  allowed  for  such  bringing-up  as  yours,  ma'am." 
"  But  have  you  anything  more  to  tell  me  about  that 
shocking  thing  that  is  such  a  sad  disgrace  to  Perlycross?" 
The  parson  buttoned  up  his  spencer,  as  if  he  still  felt  that 
dirty  Pack's  hits  below  the  belt. 

"  I  could  tell  'e  a  zight  of  things,  if  I  waz  so  minded, 
about  what  they  vules  to  Perlycross,  and  you  among 
t'others,  be  mazed  about.  I  can't  make  'un  out  myself ; 
but  I  be  free  to  swear  you'm  a  passel  of  idiots.  Tremletts 
was  bad  enough ;  no  vamley  could  be  worse  a'most ;  and 
much  older  they  was  than  any  Waldrons.  But  none  on 
'em  never  was  dug  up  for  generations.  Won'erful  things 
has  come  to  them  —  things  as  would  fill  books  bigger  than 
this  Bible  ;  because  'em  always  wor  above  the  lids  of  the 
Ten  Commandments.  But  'em  always  had  peace,  so  soon 
as  they  was  dead,  till  such  time  as  the  devil  could  come 
for'un,  and  he  don't  care  for  no  corpses.  They  Waldrons 
is  tame  — no  French  blood  in  'em.  Vitted  for  big  pews 
in  church,  and  big  vunerals.  Vellers  not  laikely  to  be  dug 
up,  when  that  waz  never  done  to  Tremletts.  Passon,  I 
could  tell  'c  such  a  saight  of  things  as  would  make  the  hair 


276  PERLYCKOSS 

creep  round  the  head  of  thee.  Can't  talk  no  more,  or  my 
cough  will  come  on.  Will  tell  'e  all  about  your  little  boy, 
Mike ;  if  'e  come  again  when  this  vrost  is  over.  And 
then  I'll  show  'e  Zip.  But  I  can't  talk  vair  while  the 
houze  be  so  cold.  I've  a  dooed  too  much  to-day,  for  a 
'ooman  in  her  ninety-zecond  year.  You  come  again  about 
this  day  wake.  I  trust  'e  now,  passon.  You  be  a  good 
man,  because  you'm  got  no  good  blood  in  you.  A  old 
'ooman's  blessing  won't  do  'e  no  harm." 

Vast  is  the  power  of  a  good  kind  face,  and  of  silence 
at  the  proper  moment.  The  Curate  of  Perlycross  pos- 
sessed that  large  and  tender  nature  at  which  the  weak 
are  apt  to  scoff,  because  they  are  not  afraid  of  it.  Over 
them  no  influence  can  last,  for  there  is  nothing  to  lay  hold 
of.  But  a  strong-willed  person,  like  that  old  woman,  has 
substance  that  can  be  dealt  with,  if  handled  kindly  and 
without  pretence.  Thus  Mr.  Penniloe  indulged  seme 
hope  of  soothing  and  softening  that  fierce  and  flinty  nat- 
ure, and  guiding  it  towards  that  peace  on  earth  which 
is  the  surest  token  of  the  amnesty  above. 

But  while  he  was  at  breakfast  on  the  following  day  he 
was  told  that  a  little  maid  was  at  the  front  door,  crying 
very  bitterly,  and  refusing  to  come  in.  He  went  out  alone, 
but  not  a  syllable  would  she  utter  until  he  had  closed  the 
door  behind  him.  There  she  stood,  shivering  in  the 
snow  and  sobbing  bitterly,  very  poorly  dressed,  and  with 
nothing  on  her  head,  but  mopping  her  eyes  and  nose 
as  she  turned  away  with  a  handkerchief  of  the  finest 
lace. 

"  Zip,"  was  all  the  answer  Mr.  Penniloe  could  get  to 
his  gentle  inquiry  as  to  who  she  was ;  and  then  she  looked 
at  him  with  large  and  lustrous  eyes,  beautifully  fringed 
below  as  well  as  above,  and  announcing  very  clearly  that 
she  was  discussing  him  within.  Although  he  guessed  what 
her  errand  was,  the  clergyman  could  not  help  smiling  at 
her  earnest  and  undisguised  probation  of  his  character ; 
and  that  smile  settled  the  issue  in  his  favour. 

"  You  be  to  coom  to  wance  ;"  her  vowel-sounds  were  of 
the  purest  Devonshire  air,  winged  by  many  a  quill,  but 
never  summed  in  pen  by  any ;  "  wi'out  no  stapping  to 
think,  you  be  to  coom !" 


THE    OLD   MILL  277 

"  What  an  imperious  little  Zenobia  !"  said  Mr.  Penni- 
loe,  in  self-commune. 

"  Dunno,  whatt  thiccy  be.  Grandmoother  zayeth,  'e  must 
coom  to  wance.  But  her  be  dead,  zince  the  can'le  gooed 
out."  Her  eyes  burst  into  another  flood,  and  she  gave  up 
the  job  of  sopping  it. 

"My  dear,  I  will  come  with  you  in  half  a  minute. 
Come  and  stand  in  the  warmth  till  I  am  ready." 

"  Noo,  noo ;  I  bain't  to  stop.  Putt  on  hat  and  coom 
raight  awai.  Vire  gooed  out,  and  can'le  gooed  out,  and 
granny  gooed  out  along  wi'  'un." 

Mr.  Pennilo.e  huddled  his  spencer  on  while  the  staring 
child  danced  with  impatience  in  the  snow ;  and  quiet 
little  Fay  came  and  glanced  at  her  and  wondered  how 
such  things  could  be.  But  Fay  would  not  stare,  because 
she  was  a  little  lady. 

The  clergyman  was  very  quick  of  foot ;  but  the  child, 
with  her  long  Tremlett  legs,  kept  easily  in  front  of  him 
all  the  way,  with  the  cloud  of  her  black  hair  blowing  out 
on  the  frosty  air,  to  hurry  him. 

"  I  bainyt  aveared  of  her.  Be  you  ?"  said  the  little  maid, 
as  she  rose  on  tiptoe  to  pull  the  thong  of  the  heavy  latch. 
"  If  her  coom  back,  her  would  say,  *  Good  cheel,  Zippy !'  " 


CHAPTER   XXVII 
PANIC 

CHRISTMAS  DAY  fell  on  Friday  that  year,  and  the  fu- 
neral of  that  ancient  woman  took  place  on  the  previous 
afternoon.  The  curate  had  never  read  the  burial-service 
before  so  small  an  audience.  For  the  weather  was  bitterly 
cold,  and  poor  Mrs.  Tremlett  had  outlived  all  her  friends, 
if  she  ever  had  any ;  no  one  expected  a  farthing  from  her, 
and  no  one  cared  to  come  and  shudder  at  her  grave.  Of 
all  her  many  descendants  none  except  the  child  Zip  was 
present;  and  she  would  have  stood  alone  upon  the  frozen 
bank  unless  Mrs.  Muggridge  had  very  kindly  offered  to 
come  and  hold  the  shivering  and  streaming  little  hand. 

What  was  to  be  done  with  Zip  ?  Nobody  came  for- 
ward. There  were  hundreds  of  kind  people  in  the  parish, 
and  dozens  to  whom  the  poor  waif  would  have  been  a 
scarcely  perceptible  burden.  Yet  nobody  cared  to  have  a 
Tremlett  at  his  hearth,  and  everybody  saw  the  duty  marked 
out  for  his  neighbour. 

"  Then  I  will  take  her,"  said  Mr.  Penniloe,  with  his  true 
benevolence,  "but  the  difficulty  is  where  to  place  her. 
She  cannot  well  be  among  my  children  yet  until  I  know 
more  about  her.  And,  although  the  old  family  is  so  re- 
duced, the  kitchen  is  scarcely  the  place  for  her."  How- 
ever, that  question  soon  answered  itself ;  and  though  lit- 
tle Zip  was  at  first  a  sad  puzzle  (especially  to  the  staid 
Muggridge),  her  grateful  and  loving  nature  soon  began  to 
win  a  warm  hold  and  a  tranquil  home  for  her. 

That  winter,  although  it  began  rather  early,  was  not  of 
prolonged  severity,  for  the  frost  broke  up  on  Christmas 
night — at  least,  in  the  west  of  England — with  a  heavy  fall 
of  snow  which  turned  into  rain.  But  Christmas  Day 
itself  was  very  bright  and  pleasant,  with  bracing  air,  hard 


PANIC  279 

frozen  snow,  and  firm  sunshine  throwing  long  shadows 
on  it,  and  sparkling  on  the  icicles  from  thatch  and  spout 
and  window-frame.  As  the  boys  of  the  Sunday-school 
filed  out,  at  the  call  of  the  bells  in  the  tower  chiming 
(after  long  silence  while  the  arch  was  being  cut),  and  as 
they  formed  into  grand  procession  under  the  military  eye 
of  Jakes,  joyfully  they  watched  their  cloudy  breath  as- 
cending, or  blew  it  in  a  column  on  some  other  fellow's  cap. 
Visions  were  before  them — a  pageantry  of  joy,  a  fortnight 
of  holidays,  a  fortnight  of  sliding,  snow-balling,  bone-run- 
ners, Cooper  Baker's  double-hoops,  why  not  even  skates  ? 

But,  alas,  even  now  the  wind  was  backing,  as  the  four 
vanes  with  rare  unanimity  proclaimed,  a  white  fog  that 
even  a  boy  could  stand  out  of  was  stealing  up  the  val- 
ley, while  the  violet  tone  of  the  too  transparent  sky,  and 
the  whiteness  of  the  sun  (which  used  to  be  a  dummy  fire- 
ball), and  even  the  short,  sharp  clack  of  the  bells,  were 
enough  to  tell  any  boy  with  weather  eyes  and  ears  that 
the  nails  on  his  heels  would  do  no  cobbler's  click  again 
till  the  holiday  time  was  over. 

But  blessed  are  they  who  have  no  prophetic  gift,  be  it 
of  the  weather,  or  of  things  yet  more  unstable.  All  went 
to  church  in  a  happy  frame  of  mind  ;  and  the  parson,  in 
a  like  mood,  looked  upon  them.  Every  head  was  there 
that  he  had  any  right  to  count,  covered  or  uncovered.  Of 
the  latter,  perhaps,  more  than  a  Sunday  would  produce ; 
of  the  former  not  so  many,  but  to  a  Christian  mind 
enough  ;  for  how  shall  a  great  Church  festival  be  kept 
without  a  cook  ?  But  the  ladies  who  were  there  were  in 
very  choice  attire,  happy  in  having  nothing  but  them- 
selves to  dress ;  all  in  good  smiling  condition,  and  re- 
serving for  home  use  their  candid  reviews  of  one  another. 

There  was  the  genial  and  lively  Mrs.  Farrant,  whose 
good  word  and  good  sayings  everybody  valued  ;  close  at 
her  side  was  her  daughter  Minnie,  provided  by  nature  with 
seasonable  gifts — lips  more  bright  than  the  holly-berry, 
teeth  more  pearly  than  mistletoe,  cheeks  that  proved  the 
hardiness  of  the  rose  in  Devon,  and  eyes  that  anticipated 
Easter-tide  with  the  soft  glance  of  the  forget-me-not. 
Then  there  was  Mrs.  John  Horner,  interdum  aspera  cornu, 
but  foenum  habens  for  the  roast-beef  time ;  and  kind  Mrs. 


280  PERLYCROSS 

Anning  (quite  quit  of  this  tale,  though  the  Perle  runs 
through  her  orchard),  and  tall  Mrs.  Webber,  with  two 
pretty  girls — all  purely  distinct  from  the  lawyer — and 
Mrs.  James  Hollyer,  and  Mrs.  John  Hollyer,  both  great 
in  hospitality ;  and  others  of  equally  worthy  order,  for 
whom  the  kind  hearts  of  Bright  and  Cobden  would  have 
ached,  had  they  not  been  blind  seers. 

To  return  to  our  own  sheep,  themselves  astray,  there 
was  no  denying  Mrs.  Gilham,  looking  still  a  Christian,  up 
a  fathom  of  sea-green  bonnet;  and  her  daughter  Rose, 
now  so  demure  if  ever  she  caught  a  wandering  eye  that  it 
had  to  come  again  to  beg  pardon;  and  by  her  side  a  young 
man  stood,  with  no  eyes  at  all  for  the  prettiest  girl  inside 
the  sacred  building ! 

But,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  he  had  eyes  enough  and  to 
spare  for  a  young  man  opposite ;  whose  face  he  perused 
with  perpetual  inquiry,  which  the  other  understood,  but 
did  not  want  to  apprehend.  For  instance,  "  How  is  your 
very  darling  sister?  Have  you  heard  from  her  by  the 
latest  post  ?  Did  she  say  anything  about  me  ?  When  is 
she  coming  to  Perlycross  again  ?  Do  you  think  she  is 
reading  the  same  Psalm  that  we  are  ?  Have  they  got 
any  Christmas  parties  on  ?  I  hope  there  is  no  mistletoe 
up  that  way,  or  at  any  rate  no  hateful  fellow  near  her 
with  it?" 

These,  and  fifty  other  points  of  private  worship,  not  to 
be  discovered  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer — even  by 
the  cleverest  anagram  of  Ritualist  —  did  Frank  Gilham 
vainly  strive  to  moot  with  Jemmy  Fox  across  the  aisle,  in- 
stead of  being  absorbed  and  rapt  in  the  joyful  tidings  of 
the  day. 

Neither  was  Jemmy  Fox  a  ha'porth  more  devout.  With 
the  innate  selfishness  of  all  young  men,  he  had  quite  an- 
other dish  of  fish  to  fry  for  his  own  plate.  As  for  Frank 
Gilham's,  he  would  upset  it  joyfully,  in  spite  of  all  sympa- 
thy or  gratitude.  And,  if  so  low  a  metaphor  can  ever  be 
forgiven,  Jemmy's  fish,  though  not  in  sight  but  in  a  brambly 
corner,  was  fairly  hooked  and  might  be  felt;  whereas 
Frank  Gilham's,  if  she  had  ever  seen  his  fly,  had  (so  far  as 
he  could  be  sure)  never  even  opened  mouth  to  take  it ;  but 
had  sailed  away  up-stream,  leaving  a  long  furrow,  as  if — like 


PANIC  281 

the  celebrated  trout  in  Crocker's  Hole  —  she  scorned  any 
tackle  a  poor  farmer  could  afford. 

Fox,  on  the  other  hand,  had  reasonable  hopes  that  pa- 
tience and  discretion  and  the  flowing  stream  of  time 
would  bring  his  lovely  prize  to  bank  at  last.  For  the  chief 
thing  still  against  him  was  that  black  and  wicked  charge ; 
and  even  now  he  looked  at  all  the  women  in  the  church, 
with  very  little  interest  in  their  features,  but  keen  inquiry 
as  to  their  expression.  His  eyes  put  the  question  to  them, 
one  after  another,  "  My  good  madam,  are  you  still  afraid 
of  me?"  And,  sad  to  say,  the  answer  from  too  many  of 
them  was,  "  Well,  I  had  rather  not  shake  hands  with  you 
till  you  have  cleared  your  reputation."  So  certain  is  it 
that  if  once  a  woman  has  believed  a  thing — be  it  good,  or 
be  it  evil — nothing  but  the  evidence  of  her  own  eyes  will 
uproot  that  belief ;  and  sometimes  not  even  that. 

Especially  now,  with  Lady  Waldron,  Fox  felt  certain  that 
his  case  stood  thus :  that  in  spite  of  all  the  arguments  of 
Christie  and  of  Inez,  he  was  not  yet  acquitted,  though  less 
stubbornly  condemned ;  and  as  long  as  that  state  of  things 
lasted  he  could  not  (with  proper  self-respect)  press  his 
suit  upon  the  daughter.  For  it  should  be  observed  that  he 
had  no  doubt  yet  of  the  genuine  strength  of  her  ladyship's 
suspicions.  Mr.  Penniloe  had  not  thought  it  right  or 
decent,  placed  as  he  was  towards  the  family,  to  impart 
to  young  Jemmy  Sir  Harrison  Gowler's  hateful  (because 
misogynic)  conclusions. 

That  excellent  preacher,  and  noble  exemplar,  the  Rever- 
end Philip  Penniloe,  gave  out  his  text  in  a  fine  sonorous 
voice,  echoing  through  the  great  pillars  of  his  heart,  three 
words — as  many  as  can  ever  rouse  an  echo — and  all  of  them 
short:  "On  earth,  peace." 

He  was  gazing  on  his  flock  with  large  good-will,  and 
that  desire  to  see  the  best  side  of  them  which  is  creditable 
to  both  parties ;  for,  take  them  altogether,  they  were  a  peace- 
ful flock — when  a  crack,  as  of  thunder  and  lightning  all  in 
one,  rang  in  every  ear,  and  made  a  stop  in  every  heart. 
Before  anybody  could  start  up  to  ask  about  it,  a  cavern- 
ous rumble  rolled  into  a  quick  rattle ;  and  then  deep  silence 
followed. 

Nervous  folk  started  up,  slower  persons  stared  about, 


282  PEELYCROSS 

even  the  coolest  and  most  self-possessed  doubted  their 
arrangements  for  the  Day  of  Judgment.  The  sunlight 
was  shining  through  the  south  aisle  windows,  and  none 
could  put  the  blame  on  any  storm  outside. 

Then  panic  arose,  as  at  a  trumpet-call.  People  huddled 
anyhow,  to  rush  out  of  their  pews,  without  even  sense 
enough  to  turn  the  button-latch.  Bald  heads  were  plunging 
into  long-ribboned  bonnets,  fathers  forgot  their  children, 
young  men  their  sweethearts ;  but  mothers  pushed  their 
little  ones  before  them.  "  Fly  for  dear  life  " — was  the  im- 
pulse of  the  men ;  "  save  the  life  dearer  than  my  own  " — 
was  that  of  the  women.  That  is  the  moment  to  be  sure 
what  love  is. 

"  Sit  still,  boys,  or  I'll  skin  you  !"  —  Sergeant  Jakes's 
voice  was  heard  above  the  uproar ;  many  believed  that 
the  roof  was  falling  in ;  every  kind  of  shriek  and  scream 
abounded. 

"  My  friends,"  said  Mr.  Penniloe,  in  a  loud,  clear  voice, 
and  lifting  up  his  Bible  calmly,  "remember  in  Whose 
house  and  in  Whose  hands  we  are.  It  is  but  a  fall  of  some- 
thing in  the  chancel.  It  cannot  hurt  you.  Perhaps  some 
brave  man  will  go  behind  the  screen,  and  just  tell  us  what 
has  happened.  I  would  go  myself  if  I  could  leave  the 
pulpit." 

People  were  ashamed  when  they  saw  little  Fay  run  from 
her  seat  to  the  newly-finished  steps,  and  begin  groping  at 
the  canvas,  while  she  smiled  up  at  her  father.  In  a  mo- 
ment three  men  drew  her  back  and  passed  in.  They  were 
Jemmy  Fox,  Frank  Gilham,  and  the  gallant  Jakes ;  and  a 
cloud  of  dust  floated  out  as  they  vanished.  Courage  re- 
turned, and  the  rush  and  crush  were  stayed,  while  Hom- 
er and  Farrant,  the  two  church-wardens,  came  with  long 
strides  to  join  the  explorers. 

Deep  silence  reigned  when  Dr.  Fox  returned,  and  at 
the  request  of  Farmer  John,  addressed  the  parson  so  that 
all  could  hear.  "  There  is  no  danger,  sir,  of  any  further 
fall.  There  has  been  a  sort  of  settlement  of  the  south-east 
corner.  The  stone  screen  is  cracked,  and  one  end  of  it  has 
dropped,  and  the  small  lancet  window  has  tumbled  in.  All 
is  now  quite  firm  again.  There  is  not  the  smallest  cause 
for  fear." 


PANIC  283 

"  Thank  God !"  said  Mr.  Penniloe,  "  and  thank  you, 
my  friends,  for  telling  us.  And  now,  as  soon  as  order  is 
quite  restored,  I  shall  beg  to  return  to  the  discussion 
of  my  text,  which  with  your  permission  I  will  read 
again." 

As  soon  as  he  had  finished  a  very  brief  discourse, 
worthy  of  more  attention  than  it  could  well  secure,  his 
flock  hurried  gladly  away,  with  much  praise  of  his  courage 
and  presence  of  mind,  but  no  thought  of  the  heavy  loss 
and  sad  blow  cast  upon  him.  Fox  alone  remained  behind 
to  offer  aid  and  sympathy,  when  the  parson  laid  his  gown 
aside  and  came  to  learn  the  worst  of  it.  They  found  that 
the  south-east  corner  of  the  chancel-wall,  with  the  external 
quoin  and  two  buttresses,  had  parted  from  the  rest,  and 
sunk  bodily  to  the  depth  of  a  yard  or  more,  bearing 
away  a  small  southern  window,  a  portion  of  the  roof,  and 
several  panels  of  that  equally  beautiful  and  unlucky 
screen. 

At  a  rough  guess,  at  least  another  hundred  pounds 
would  be  required  to  make  good  the  damage.  It  was  not 
only  this,  but  the  sense  of  mishaps  so  frequent  and  unac- 
countable— few  of  which  have  been  even  mentioned  here 
— that  now  began  to  cast  heavy  weight  and  shadow  upon 
the  cheerful  heart  of  Penniloe.  For  it  seemed  as  if  all 
things  combined  against  him,  both  as  regarded  the  work 
itself,  and  the  means  by  which  alone  it  could  be  carried 
on.  And  this  last  disaster  was  the  more  depressing,  be- 
cause no  cause  whatever  could  be  found  for  it.  That  wall 
had  not  been  meddled  with  in  any  way  externally,  because 
it  seemed  quite  substantial.  And  even  inside  there  had 
been  but  little  done  to  it,  simply  a  shallow  excavation  made 
for  the  plinth,  or  footings,  of  the  newly  erected  screen. 

"  Never  mind,  sir,"  said  Fox ;  "  it  can  soon  be  put  to 
rights ;  and  your  beautiful  screen  will  look  ever  so  much 
better  without  that  lancet-window,  which  has  always  ap- 
peared to  me  quite  out  of  place." 

"  Perhaps,"  replied  the  parson,  in  a  sad,  low  voice,  and 
with  a  shake  of  his  head  which  meant,  "  all  very  fine,  but 
how  on  earth  am  I  to  get  the  money  ?" 

Even  now  the  disaster  was  not  complete.  Subscriptions 
had  grown  slack,  and  some  had  even  been  withdrawn  on 


284  PERLYCROSS 

the  niggardly  plea  that  no  church  was  worth  preserving 
which  could  not  protect  even  its  own  dead.  And  now  the 
news  of  this  occurrence  made  that  matter  worse  again,  for 
the  blame  of  course  fell  upon  Penniloe.  "  What  use  to 
help  a  man  who  cannot  help  himself  ?"  "  A  fellow  shouldn't 
meddle  with  bricks  and  mortar  unless  he  was  brought  up 
to  them."  "  I  like  him  too  well  to  give  him  another  penny. 
If  I  did,  he'd  pull  the  tower  down  upon  his  own  head." 
Thus  and  thus  spoke  they  who  should  have  flown  to  the 
rescue;  some  even  friendly  enough  to  deal  the  coward's 
blow  at  the  unfortunate. 

Moreover,  that  very  night  the  frost  broke  up,  with  a  fall 
of  ten  inches  of  watery  snow,  on  the  wet  back  of  which 
came  more  than  half  an  inch  of  rain,  the  total  fall  being 
ten  inches  and  three-quarters.  The  ground  was  too  hard 
to  suck  any  of  it  in ;  water  by  the  acre  lay  on  streaky 
fields  of  ground-ice ;  every  gateway  poured  its  runnel  and 
every  flinty  lane  its  torrent.  The  Perle  became  a  roaring 
flood,  half  a  mile  wide  in  the  marshes ;  and  the  Susscot 
brook  dashed  away  the  old  mill-wheel,  and  whirled  some 
of  it  down  as  far  as  Joe  Crang's  anvil,  fulfilling  thereby 
an  old  prophecy.  Nobody  could  get,  without  swimming 
horse  or  self,  from  Perlycombe  to  Perlycross,  or  from  Per- 
lycross  to  Perliton  ;  and  old  Mother  Pods  was  drowned 
in  her  own  cottage.  The  view  of  the  valley,  from  either 
Beacon  Hill  or  Hagdon,  was  really  grand  for  any  one  tall 
enough  to  wade  so  far  up  the  weltering  ways.  Old  Chan- 
ning  vowed  that  he  had  never  seen  such  a  flood,  and 
feared  that  the  big  bridge  would  be  washed  away ;  but 
now  was  seen  the  value  of  the  many  wide  arches  which 
had  puzzled  Christie  Fox  in  the  distance.  Alas  for  the 
Hopper,  that  he  was  so  far  away  at  this  noble  time  for  a 
cross-country  run  <  But  he  told  Pike  afterwards,  and 
Mrs.  Muggridge  too,  that  he  had  a  good  time  of  it,  even 
in  the  Mendips. 

In  this  state  of  things  the  condition  of  the  chancel,  with 
the  shattered  roof  yawning  to  the  reek  of  the  snow-slides, 
and  a  southern  gale  hurling  floods  in  at  the  wall-gaps,  may 
better  be  imagined  than  described,  as  a  swimming  rat  per- 
haps reported  to  his  sodden  family.  And  people  had  a 
fine  view  of  it  at  the  Sundav  service,  for  the  canvas  cur- 


PANIC  285 

tain  had  failed  to  resist  the  swag  and  the  bellying  of  the 
blast,  and  had  fallen  in  a  squashy  pile,  and  formed  a 
rough  breakwater  for  the  mortary  lake  behind  it. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  for  the  present  except  to 
provide  against  further  mischief.  The  masons  from  Exe- 
ter had  left  work,  by  reason  of  the  frost,  some  time  ago  ; 
but  under  the  directions  of  Mr.  Richard  Horner  the  quoin 
was  shored  up,  and  the  roof  and  window  made  water-proof 
with  tarpaulins.  So  it  must  remain  till  Easter  now ;  when 
the  time  of  year,  and  possibly  a  better  tide  of  money, 
might  enable  beaten  Christians  to  put  shoulder  to  the  hod 
again.  Meanwhile  was  there  any  chance  of  finding  any 
right  for  the  wrong  which  put  every  man  who  looked  for- 
ward to  his  grave  out  of  all  conceit  with  Perly cross  ? 

"  Vaither,  do  'e  care  to  plaze  your  hiving  darter,  as  'e 
used  to  doo  ?  Or  be  'e  channged,  and  not  the  zame  to  her  ?" 

"  The  vurry  za-am — the  vurry  za-am,"  Mr.  Penniloe  an- 
swered, with  his  eyes  glad  to  rest  on  her,  yet  compelled 
by  his  conscience  to  correct  her  vowel  sounds.  It  had 
long  been  understood  between  them  that  Fay  might  for- 
sake upon  occasion  what  we  now  call  "  higher  culture," 
and  try  her  lissome  tongue  at  the  soft  Ionic  sounds  which 
those  who  know  nothing  of  the  West  call  Doric. 

"  Then,  vaither,"  cried  the  child,  rising  to  the  situation, 
"  whatt  vor  do  'e  putt  both  han's  avore  the  eyes  of  'e  ? 
The  Lard  in  heaven  can  zee  'e,  arl  the  zaam." 

The  little  girl  was  kneeling  with  both  elbows  on  a  chair, 
and  her  chin  set  up  steadfastly  between  her  dimpled  hands, 
while  her  clear  eyes,  gleaming  with  the  tears  she  was  re- 
pressing, dwelt  upon  her  father's  downcast  face. 

"My  darling,  my  own  darling,  you  are  the  image  of 
your  mother !"  Mr.  Penniloe  exclaimed,  as  he  rose  and 
caught  her  up.  "  What  is  the  mammon  of  this  world  to 
heaven's  angels  ?" 

After  that  his  proper  course  would  have  been  to  smoke 
a  pipe,  if  that  form  of  thank-offering  had  been  duly  rec- 
ommended by  the  rising  school  of  churchmen.  His  omis- 
sion, however,  was  soon  repaired ;  for  before  he  could 
even  relapse  towards  "  the  blues  "  the  voice  of  a  genuine 
smoker  was  heard,  and  the  step  of  a  man  of  substance, 
the  time  being  now  the  afternoon  of  Monday. 


286  PEKLYCKOSS 

"  Hollo,  Penniloe  !"  this  gentleman  exclaimed  ;  "  how 
are  you,  this  frightful  weather  ?  Very  glad  to  see  you. 
Made  a  virtue  of  necessity ;  can't  have  the  hounds  out, 
and  so  look  up  my  flock.  Never  saw  the  waters  out  so 
much  in  all  my  life.  *  Nancy'  had  to  swim  at  Susscot  ford. 
Thought  we  should  have  been  washed  down,  but  Crang 
threw  us  a  rope.  Says  nobody  could  cross  yesterday. 
'  Nancy  '  must  have  a  hot  wash,  please,  Mrs.  Muggridge.  I'll 
come  and  see  to  it,  if  you'll  have  the  water  hot.  Harry's 
looking  after  her  till  I  come  back.  Like  to  see  a  boy  that 
takes  kindly  to  a  horse.  What  a  job  I  had  to  get  your 
back  gate  open !  Never  use  your  stable-yard,  it  seems. 
Beats  me  how  any  man  can  live  without  a  horse !  Well, 
my  dear  fellow,  I  hope  the  world  only  deals  with  you  ac- 
cording to  your  merits.  Bless  my  heart,  why,  that  can 
never  be  Fay  !  What  a  little  beauty !  Got  a  kiss  to  spare, 
my  dear  ?  Don't  be  afraid  of  me ;  children  always  love 
me.  Got  one  little  girl  just  your  height.  Won't  I  make 
her  jealous  when  I  get  home  !  Got  something  in  my  vady 
that  will  make  your  pretty  eyes  flash.  Come,  come,  Penni- 
loe, this  won't  do — you  don't  look  at  all  the  thing !  Want 
a  thirty-mile  ride  and  a  drop  of  brown  mahogany — put  a 
little  colour  into  your  learned  face.  Just  you  should  have 
a  look  at  my  son  Jack.  Mean  him  for  this  little  puss,  if 
ever  he  grows  good  enough.  Not  a  bad  fellow,  though. 
And  how's  your  little  Mike  ?  Why,  there  he  is,  peeping 
round  the  corner !  I'll  have  it  out  with  him  when  I've 
had  some  dinner.  Done  yours,  I  dare  say?  Anything 
will  do  for  me.  A  rasher  of  bacon  and  a  couple  of  poached 
eggs  is  a  dinner  for  a  lord,  I  say.  You  don't  eat  enough, 
that's  quite  certain.  Saw  an  awful  thing  in  the  papers  last 
week — parsons  are  going  to  introduce  fasting ;  Protestant 
parsons,  mind  you !  Can't  believe  it.  Shall  have  to  join 
the  Church  of  Rome,  if  they  do.  All  jolly  fellows  there — 
never  saw  a  lean  one.  I  suppose  I  am  about  the  last  man 
you  expected  to  turn  up.  Glad  to  see  you,  though,  upon 
my  soul !  You  don't  like  that  expression — ha,  how  well  I 
know  your  face !  Strictly  clerical,  I  call  it,  though,  or,  at 
any  rate,  professional.  But  bless  my  heart  alive — if  you 
like  that  better  —  what  has  all  our  parish  been  about? 
Why,  a  dead  man  belongs  to  the  parson,  not  the  doctor. 


PANIC  287 

The  doctors  have  done  for  him,  and  they  ought  to  have 
done  with  him.  But  we  parsons  never  back  one  another 
up.  Not  enough  colour  in  the  cloth,  I  always  say.  Get- 
ting too  much  of  black,  and  all  black." 

The  Rev.  John  Chevithorne,  rector  of  the  parish,  was 
doing  his  best  at  the  present  moment  to  relieve  "  the 
cloth  "  of  that  imputation.  For  his  coat  was  dark  green, 
and  his  waistcoat  of  red  shawl-stuff,  and  his  breeches  of 
buff  corduroy,  while  his  boots — heavy  jack-boots  coming 
half-way  up  the  thigh — might  have  been  of  any  colour 
under  the  sun,  without  the  sun  knowing  what  the  colour 
was,  so  spattered  and  plastered  and  cobbed  with  mud 
were  they.  And  throughout  all  his  talk  he  renewed  the 
hand-shakes,  in  true  pump-handle  fashion,  at  short  inter- 
vals, for  he  was  strongly  attached  to  his  curate.  They 
had  been  at  the  same  college,  and  on  the  same  staircase ; 
and  although  of  different  standing  and  very  different 
characters,  had  taken  to  one  another  with  a  liking  which 
had  increased  as  years  went  on.  Mr.  Penniloe  had  an 
Englishman's  love  of  field-sports ;  and  though  he  had  re- 
pressed it  from  devotion  to  his  calling,  he  was  too  good  a 
Christian  to  condemn  those  who  did  otherwise. 

"  Chevithorne,  I  have  wanted  you  most  sadly,"  he  said, 
as  soon  as  his  guest  was  reclad  from  his  vady,  and  had 
done  ample  justice  to  rashers  and  eggs  ,•  "  I  am  really 
ashamed  of  it,  but  fear  greatly  that  I  shall  have  to  be 
down  upon  you  again.  Children,  you  may  go,  and  get  a 
good  run  before  dark.  Things  have  been  going  on — in 
fact,  the  Lord  has  not  seemed  to  prosper  this  work  at  all." 

"  If  you  are  going  to  pour  forth  a  cloud  of  sorrows,  you 
won't  mind  my  blowing  one  of  comfort." 

The  rector  was  a  pleasant  man  to  look  at,  and  a  pleasant 
one  to  deal  with,  if  he  liked  his  customer.  But  a  much 
sharper  man  of  the  world  than  his  curate ;  prompt,  reso- 
lute, and  penetrating,  short  in  his  manner,  and  when  at  all 
excited  apt  to  indulge  himself  in  the  language  of  the 
laity. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  after  listening  to  the  whole  church 
history,  "  I  am  not  a  rich  man,  as  you  know,  my  friend. 
People  suppose  that  a  man  with  three  livings  must  be  roll- 
ing in  money,  and  all  that.  They  never  think  twice  of  the 


288  PEKLYCROSS 

outgoings.  And  Jack  goes  to  Oxford  in  January.  That 
means  something,  as  you  and  I  know  well.  Though  he 
has  promised  me  not  to  hunt  there ;  and  he  is  a  boy  who 
never  goes  back  from  his  word.  But  chancel,  of  course,  is 
my  special  business.  Will  you  let  me  off  for  fifty,  at  any 
rate  for  the  present  ?  And  don't  worry  yourself  about  the 
debt.  We'll  make  it  all  right  among  us.  Our  hunt  will 
come-down  with  another  fifty,  if  I  put  it  before  them  to 
the  proper  tune,  when  they  come  back  to  work,  after  this 
infernal  muck.  Only  you  mustn't  look  like  this.  The 
world  gets  worse  and  worse  every  day,  and  can't  spare  the 
best  man  it  contains.  You  should  have  seen  the  rick  of 
hay  I  bought  last  week,  just  because  I  didn't  push  my 
knuckles  into  it.  Thought  I  could  trust  my  brother  Tom's 
church-warden.  And  Tom  laughs  at  me  ;  which  digs  it  in 
too  hard.  Had  a  rise  out  of  him  last  summer  though,  and 
know  how  to  do  him  again  for  Easter  offerings.  Tom  is 
too  sharp  for  a  man  who  has  got  no  family.  Won't  come 
down  with  twopence  for  Jack's  time  at  Oxford.  And  he 
has  got  all  the  Chevithorne  estates,  you  know.  Nothing 
but  the  copyhold  came  to  me.  Always  the  way  of  the 
acres,  with  a  man  who  could  put  a  child  to  stand  on  every 
one  of  them.  However,  you  never  hear  me  complain.  But 
surely  you  ought  to  get  more  out  of  those  Waldrons.  An 
offering  to  the  Lord  in  memoriam — a  proper  view  of  chas- 
tisement ;  have  you  tried  to  work  it  up  ?" 

"  I  have  not  been  able  to  take  that  view  of  it,"  Mr.  Pen- 
niloe  answered,  smiling  for  a  moment,  though  doubtful  of 
the  right  to  do  so.  "How  can  I  ask  them  for  another  far- 
thing, after  what  has  happened  ?  And  leaving  that  aside,  I 
am  now  in  a  position  in  which  it  would  be  unbecoming. 
You  may  have  heard  that  I  am  trustee  for  a  part  of  the 
Waldron  estates,  to  secure  a  certain  sum  for  the  daughter 
Nicie." 

"Then  that  puts  it  out  of  the  question,"  said  the  rector. 
"  I  know  what  those  trust-plagues  are.  I  call  them  a  tax 
upon  good  repute.  '  The  friendly  balm  that  breaks  the 
head.'  I  never  understood  that  passage  till  in  a  fool's  mo- 
ment I  accepted  a  trusteeship.  However,  go  on  with  that 
Waldron  affair.  They  are  beginning  to  chaff  me  about  it 
shamefully,  now  that  their  anger  and  fright  are  gone  by. 


PANIC  289 

Poor  as  I  am,  I  would  give  a  hundred  pounds  for  the  sake 
of  the  parish,  to  have  it  all  cleared  up.  But  the  longer  it 
goes  on  the  darker  it  gets.  You  used  to  be  famous  for 
concise  abstracts.  Do  you  remember  our  Thucydides? 
Wasn't  it  old  Short  that  used  to  put  a  year  of  the  war  on 
an  oyster-shell,  and  you  beat  him  by  putting  it  on  a  thumb- 
nail? Give  us  in  ten  lines  all  the  theories  of  the  great 
Perlycrucian  mystery.  Ready  in  a  moment.  I'll  jot  them 
down.  What's  the  Greek  for  Perlycross?  Puzzle  even 
you,  I  think,  that  would.  Number  them,  one,  two,  and  so 
on.  There  must  be  a  dozen  by  this  time." 

Mr.  Penniloe  felt  some  annoyance  at  this  too  jocular 
view  of  the  subject ;  but  he  bore  in  mind  that  his  rector 
was  not  so  sadly  bound  up  with  it  as  his  own  life  was.  So 
he  set  down,  as  offering  the  shortest  form,  the  names  of 
those  who  had  been  charged  with  the  crime,  either  by  the 
public  voice  or  by  private  whisper. 

1.  Fox. 

2.  Gronow. 

3.  Gowler. 

4.  Some  other  medical  man  of  those  parts — conjecture 
founded  very  often  upon  the  last  half-year's  account. 

5.  Lady  Waldron  herself. 

6.  Some  relative  of  hers,  with  or  without  her  knowl- 
edge. 

"  Now,  I  think  that  exhausts  them,"  the  curate  contin- 
ued ;  "  and  I  will  discuss  them  in  that  order.  No.  1  is  the 
general  opinion  still.  I  mean  that  of  the  great  majority, 
outside  the  parish,  and  throughout  the  county.  None  who 
knew  Jemmy  could  conceive  it,  and  those  who  know  noth- 
ing of  him  will  dismiss  it,  I  suppose,  when  they  hear  of 
his  long  attachment  to  Miss  Waldron. 

"  Nos.  2,  3,  and  4  may  also  be  dismissed,  being  founded 
in  each  case  on  personal  dislikes,  without  a  scintilla  of 
evidence  to  back  it.  As  regards  probability,  No.  4  would 
take  the  lead ;  for  Gronow  and  Gowler  are  out  of  the 
question.  The  former  has  given  up  practice,  and  hates  it, 
except  for  the  benefit  of  his  friends.  And  as  for  Gowler, 
he  could  have  no  earthly  motive.  He  understood  the  case 
as  well  as  if  he  had  seen  it ;  and  his  whole  time  is  occu- 
pied with  his  vast  London  practice.  But  No.  4  also  is  re- 
13 


290  PERLYCROSS 

duced  to  the  very  verge  of  impossibility.  There  is  no  one 
at  Exeter  who  would  dream  of  such  things.  No  country 
practitioner  would  dare  it,  even  if  the  spirit  of  research 
could  move  him.  And  as  for  Bath  and  Bristol,  I  have  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Gowler  disposing  of  all  possibility 
there." 

"  Who  suggested  No.  5  ?  That  seems  a  strange  idea. 
What  on  earth  should  Lady  Waldron  do  it  for  ?" 

"  Gowler  suggested  it.  I  tell  you  in  the  strictest  con- 
fidence, Chevithorne.  Of  course  you  will  feel  that.  I 
have  told  no  one  else,  and  I  should  not  have  told  you  ex- 
cept that  I  want  your  advice  about  it.  You  have  travelled 
in  Spain.  You  know  much  of  Spanish  people.  I  reject 
the  theory  altogether ;  though  Gowler  is  most  positive, 
and  laughs  at  my  objections.  You  remember  him,  of 
course  ?" 

"I  should  think  so,"  said  the  rector,  "a  wonderfully 
clever  fellow,  but  never  much  liked.  Nobody  could  ever 
get  on  with  him  but  you ;  and  two  more  totally  different 
men — however,  an  opinion  of  his  is  worth  something. 
What  motive  could  he  discover  for  it  ?" 

"  Religious  feelings.  Narrow,  if  you  like — for  we  are 
as  catholic  as  they  are — but  very  strong,  as  one  could  well 
conceive,  if  only  they  suited  the  character.  The  idea 
would  be  that  the  wife,  unable  to  set  aside  the  husband's 
wishes  openly,  or  unwilling  to  incur  the  odium  of  it,  was 
secretly  resolved  upon  his  burial  elsewhere,  and  with  the 
rites  which  she  considered  needful." 

"  It  is  a  most  probable  explanation.  I  wonder  that  it 
never  occurred  to  you.  Gowler  has  hit  the  mark.  What 
a  clever  fellow  1  And  see  how  it  exculpates  the  parish  ! 
I  shall  go  back  with  a  great  weight  off  my  mind.  Upon 
my  soul,  Penniloe,  I  am  astonished  that  you  had  to  go 
to  London  to  find  out  this  a  b  c.  If  I  had  been  over 
here  a  little  more  often,  I  should  have  hit  upon  it  long 
ago." 

"  Chevithorne,  I  think  that  very  likely,"  the  curate  re- 
plied, with  the  mildness  of  those  who  let  others  be  rushed 
off  their  legs  by  themselves.  "  The  theory  is  plausible — 
accounts  for  everything — fits  in  with  the  very  last  dis- 
coveries, proves  this  parish,  and  even  the  English  nation, 


PANIC  291 

guiltless.  Nevertheless,  it  is  utterly  wrong,  according  at 
least  to  my  views  of  human  nature." 

"  Your  view  of  human  nature  was  always  too  benevo- 
lent. That  was  why  everybody  liked  you  so.  But,  my 
dear  fellow,  you  have  lived  long  enough  now  to  know  that 
it  only  does  for  Christmas-day  sermons." 

"  I  have  not  lived  long  enough,  and  hope  to  do  so 
never,"  Mr.  Penniloe  answered,  very  quietly,  but  with  a 
manner,  which  the  other  understood,  of  the  larger  sight 
looking  over  hat-crowns.  "  Will  you  tell  me,  Chevithorne, 
upon  what  points  you  rely?  And  then  I  will  tell  you 
what  I  think  of  them." 

"  Why,  if  it  comes  to  argument,  what  chance  have  I 
against  you  ?  You  can  put  things,  and  I  can't.  But  I  can 
sell  a  horse,  and  you  can  buy  it — fine  self-sacrifice  on  your 
side.  I  go  strictly  upon  common-sense.  I  have  heard  a 
lot  of  that  Lady  Waldron.  I  have  had  some  experience 
of  Spanish  ladies.  Good  and  bad,  no  doubt,  just  as  Eng- 
lish ladies  are.  It  is  perfectly  obvious  to  my  mind  that 
Lady  Waldron  has  done  all  this." 

"  To  my  mind,"  replied  Mr.  Penniloe,  looking  stead- 
fastly at  the  rector,  "  it  is  equally  obvious  that  she  has 
not." 

"  Upon  what  do  you  go  ?"  asked  the  rector,  rather 
warmly,  for  he  prided  himself  on  his  knowledge  of  man- 
kind, though  admitting  very  handsomely  his  ignorance  of 
books. 

"  I  go  upon  my  faith  in  womankind."  The  curate  spoke 
softly,  as  if  such  a  thing  were  new,  and  truly  it  was  not 
at  all  in  fashion  then.  "  This  woman  loved  her  husband. 
Her  grief  was  deep  and  genuine.  His  wishes  were  sacred 
to  her.  She  is  quite  incapable  of  double-dealing.  And, 
indeed,  I  would  say  that  if  ever  there  was  a  straightfor- 
ward, simple-hearted  woman — " 

"If  ever,  if  ever,"  replied  Mr.  Chevithorne,  with  a  fine 
indulgent  smile.  "  But  upon  the  whole,  I  think  well  of 
them.  Let  us  have  a  game  of  draughts,  my  dear  fellow, 
where  the  queens  jump  over  all  the  poor  men." 

"  Kings,  we  call  them  here,"  answered  Mr.  Penniloe. 


CHAPTEE    XXVIII 
VAGABONDS 

ALTHOUGH  Mr.  Penniloe's  anxiety  about  the  growth  of 
church  debt  was  thus  relieved  a  little,  another  of  his 
troubles  was  by  no  means  lightened  through  the  visit  of 
the  rector.  That  nasty  suspicion  suggested  by  Gowler 
and  heartily  confirmed  by  Chevithorne  was  a  very  great 
discomfort,  and  even  a  torment,  inasmuch  as  he  had  no 
one  to  argue  it  with.  He  reasoned  with  himself  that  even 
if  the  lady  were  a  schemer  so  heartless  as  to  ruin  a  young 
man  (who  had  done  her  no  harm)  that  she  might  screen 
herself,  as  well  as  an  actress  so  heaven-gifted  as  to  impose 
on  every  one — both  of  which  qualifications  he  warmly  de- 
nied— yet  there  was  no  motive,  so  far  as  he  could  see, 
strong  enough  to  lead  her  into  such  a  crooked  course.  To 
the  best  of  his  belief,  she  was  far  too  indifferent  upon 
religious  questions ;  he  had  never  seen  nor  heard  of  a 
priest  at  Walderscourt ;  and  although  she  never  came  to 
church  with  the  others  of  the  family,  she  had  allowed  her 
only  daughter  to  be  brought  up  as  a  Protestant.  She  cer- 
tainly did  not  value  our  great  nation  quite  as  much  as  it 
values  itself,  and  in  fact  was  rather  an  ardent  Spaniard, 
though  herself  of  mixed  race.  But  it  seemed  most  un- 
likely that  either  religion  or  patriotism,  or  both  combined, 
were  strong  enough  to  drive  her  into  action  contrary  to 
her  dead  husband's  wishes  and  to  her  own  character,  so  far 
as  an  unprejudiced  man  could  judge  it. 

There  remained  the  last  theory,  No.  6,  as  given  above. 
To  the  curate  it  seemed  the  more  probable  one,  although 
surrounded  with  difficulties.  There  might  be  some  Span- 
ish relative,  or  even  one  of  other  country,  resolute  to  save 
the  soul  of  Sir  Thomas  Waldron,  without  equal  respect  for 
his  body ;  and  in  that  case  it  was  just  possible  that  the 


VAGABONDS  293 

whole  thing  might  have  been  arranged  and  done  without 
Lady  Waldron's  knowledge.  But  if  that  were  so,  what 
meant  the  visit  of  the  foreigner  who  had  tried  to  escape 
his  notice  when  he  left  the  coach  ? 

Before  Mr.  Penniloe  could  think  it  out,  Jemmy  Fox 
(who  might  have  helped  him,  by  way  of  Nicie,  upon  that 
last  point)  was  called  away  suddenly  from  Perlycross. 
His  mother  was  obliged,  in  the  course  of  nature,  to  look 
upon  him  now  as  everybody's  prop  and  comfort,  because 
her  husband  could  not  be  regarded  in  that  light  any 
longer.  And  two  or  three  things  were  coming  to  pass,  of 
family  import  and  issue,  which  could  not  go  aright  except 
through  Jemmy's  fingers.  And  of  these  things  the  most 
important  was  concerning  his  sister  Christina. 

"  I  assure  you,  Jemmy,  that  her  state  of  mind  is  most  un- 
satisfactory," the  lady  said  to  her  son,  upon  their  very 
first  consultation.  "  She  does  not  care  for  any  of  her 
usual  occupations.  She  takes  no  interest  in  parish  mat- 
ters. She  let  that  wicked  old  Margery  Daw  get  no  less 
than  three  pairs  of  blankets,  and  Polly  Church  go  without 
any  at  all— at  least,  she  might,  so  far  as  Christie  cared. 
Then  you  know  that  admirable  Huggins  Charity — a  loaf  and 
three  half -pence  for  every  cottage  containing  more  than 
nine  little  ones ;  well,  she  let  them  pass  the  children  from 
one  house  to  another,  and  neither  loaves  nor  half-pence 
held  out  at  all !  *  I'll  make  it  good,'  she  said,  *  what's  the 
odds?'  or  something  almost  as  vulgar.  How  thankful  I 
was  that  Sir  Henry  did  not  hear  her  !  '  Oh,  I  wish  he  had, 
rayther !'  she  exclaimed,  with  a  toss  of  her  head.  You 
know  that  extremely  low,  slangish  way  of  saying  '  rayther ' 
to  everything.  It  does  irritate  me  so,  and  she  knows  it. 
One  would  think  that,  instead  of  desiring  to  please  as  ex- 
cellent a  man  as  ever  lived,  her  one  object  was  to  annoy 
and  disgust  him.  And  she  does  not  even  confine  herself 
to — to  the  language  of  good  society.  She  has  come  back 
from  Perlycross  with  a  sad  quantity  of  Devonshirisms ; 
and  she  always  brings  them  out  before  Sir  Henry,  who  is, 
as  you  know,  a  fastidious  man,  without  any  love  of  jocu- 
larity. And  it  is  such  a  very  desirable  thing.  I  did  hope 
it  would  have  been  all  settled  before  your  dear  father's 
birthday." 


294  PERLYCROSS 

"  Well,  mother,  and  so  it  may  easily  be.  The  only 
point  is  this :  after  all  her  bad  behaviour,  will  Sir  Henry 
come  to  the  scratch  ?" 

"  My  dear  son  !  My  dear  Jemmy,  what  an  expression  ! 
And  with  reference  to  wedded  life  !  But  if  I  understand 
your  meaning,  he  is  only  waiting  my  permission  to  pro- 
pose ;  and  I  am  only  waiting  for  a  favourable  time.  The 
sweetest-tempered  girl  I  ever  saw ;  better  even  than  yours, 
Jemmy — and  yours  has  always  been  very  fine.  But  now — 
and  she  has  found  out,  or  made  up,  some  wretched  low 
song,  and  she  sings  it  down  the  stairs,  or  even  comes  singing 
it  into  the  room,  pretending  that  she  does  not  see  me.  All 
about  the  miseries  of  step-mothers.  Oh,  she  is  most  wor- 
rying and  aggravating !  And  to  me,  who  have  laboured 
so  hard  for  her  good  !  Sometimes  I  fancy  that  she  must 
have  seen  somebody.  Surely  it  could  never  have  been  at 
Perly cross  ?" 

"  I'll  put  a  stop  to  all  that  pretty  smartly !"  the  doctor 
exclaimed,  with  fine  confidence.  "  But — but  perhaps  it 
would  be  better,  mother,  for  me  not  to  seem  to  take  Sir 
Henry's  part  too  strongly.  At  any  rate  until  things  come 
to  a  climax.  He  is  coming  this  afternoon,  you  said  ;  let 
him  pop  the  question  at  once ;  and  if  she  dares  to  refuse 
him,  then  let  me  have  a  turn  at  her.  She  has  got  a  rare 
tongue ;  but  I  think  I  know  something — at  any  rate,  you 
know  that  I  don't  stand  much  nonsense." 

They  had  scarcely  settled  their  arrangements  for  her 
when  down  the  stairs  came  Christie,  looking  wonderfully 
pretty ;  but  her  song  was  not  of  equal  beauty. 

"There  was  an  old  dog,  and  his  name  was  'Shep;' 
Says  he  to  his  daughter — don't  you  ever  be  a  Step." 

She  nodded  to  her  mother  very  dutifully,  and  to  her 
brother  with  a  smile  that  made  him  laugh  ;  and  then  she 
went  out  of  the  front  door  almost  as  if  she  felt  contempt 
for  it. 

"  Won't  do.  Won't  do  at  all ;"  said  Jemmy.  "  She'll 
say  'no'  this  afternoon.  Girls  never  know  what  they  are 
about.  But  better  let  him  bring  it  to  the  point.  And  then 
leave  it  to  me,  mother.  I  understand  her.  And  she 
knows  I  am  not  to  be  trifled  with." 


VAGABONDS  295 

Sir  Henry  Haggerstone  came  in  time  for  luncheon, 
showed  no  signs  of  nervousness,  and  got  on  very  well 
with  everybody.  He  knew  something  of  everything  that 
is  likely  to  be  talked  of  anywhere ;  and  yet  he  had  the 
knack  of  letting  down  his  knowledge  as  a  carpet  for  his 
friends  to  walk  upon.  Everybody  thought — "  Well,  I  have 
taught  him  something.  He  could  not  be  expected  to  un- 
derstand that  subject.  But  now,  from  his  own  words,  I 
feel  that  he  will.  What  a  fool  Smith  is  to  be  bothering 
a  man  like  Sir  Henry  with  the  stuff  that  is  a  b  c  to 
him  !  I  wonder  that  he  could  put  up  with  it." 

But  however  great  Sir  Henry  was  in  powers  of  conver- 
sation, or  even  of  auscultation,  his  eloquence — if  there 
was  any — fell  flat,  and  his  audience  was  brief,  and  the  an- 
swer unmistakable. 

"  It  can't  be.  It  mustn't  be.  It  sha'n't  be,  at  any 
price."  That  last  expression  was  a  bit  of  slang,  but  it 
happened  to  fit  the  circumstances. 

"  But  why  can  it  not  be  ?  Surely,  Miss  Fox,  I  may  ask 
you  to  give  me  some  reason  for  that." 

The  gentleman  thought — "What  a  strange  girl  you 
are  !"  while  the  lady  was  thinking — "  What  a  difference 
there  is  between  an  artificial  man  and  a  natural  one !" 

"What  o'clock  is  it,  by  that  timepiece,  if  you  please, 
Sir  Henry  Haggerstone  ?" 

"  Half-past  two,  within  about  two  minutes." 

"  Thank  you  ;  can  you  tell  me  why  it  isn't  half-past 
ten?  Just  because  it  isn't.  And  so  now  you  under- 
stand." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  do  not,  very  clearly.  Prob- 
ably it  is  very  stupid  of  me.  But  can  you  not  give  me  a 
little  hope,  Miss  Fox  ?" 

"  Yes,  a  great  deal ;  and  with  my  best  wishes.  There 
are  thousands  of  nice  girls,  a  thousand  times  nicer  than  I 
ever  was,  who  would  say  '  yes '  in  a  minute." 

"  But  the  only  one  whose  '  yes '  I  want  says  *  no  '  in 
half  a  minute  !" 

"  To  be  sure  she  does — and  means  it  all  over ;  but  begs 
to  offer  no  end  of  thanks." 

"  Perhaps  it  is  all  for  the  best,"  he  thought  as  he  rode 
homeward  slowly  ;  "  she  is  a  very  sweet  girl ;  but  of  late 


296  PERLY CROSS 

she  seems  to  have  grown  so  fond  of  slang  expressions — all 
very  well  for  a  man,  but  not  at  all  what  I  like  in  a  woman. 
I  should  have  been  compelled  to  break  her  of  that  trick ; 
and  even  the  sweetest-tempered  woman  hates  to  be  cor- 
rected." 

This  gentleman  would  have  been  surprised  to  hear  that 
the  phrases  he  disliked  were  used  because  he  so  thor- 
oughly disliked  them,  which,  to  say  the  least,  was  un- 
amiable. 

"  All  settled  ?  Hurrah  !  My  dear  Chris,  let  me  con- 
gratulate you,"  cried  Jemmy,  rushing  in  with  a  jaunty  air, 
though  he  well  knew  what  the  truth  was. 

"  Amen  !  It  is  a  happy  thing.  That  golden  parallelo- 
gram, all  tapered  and  well-rounded,  will  come  to  harass 
me  no  more." 

"  What  a  mixture  of  quotations !  A  girl  alone  could 
achieve  it.  A  tapered  parallelogram !  But  you  have  never 
been  fool  enough  to  refuse  him  ?" 

"  I  have  been  wise  enough  to  do  so." 

"  And  soon  you  will  be  wise  enough  to  think  bet- 
ter of  it.  I  shall  take  good  care  to  let  him  know  that 
no  notice  is  to  be  taken  of  your  pretty  little  vagaries." 

"  Don't  lose  your  temper,  my  dear  Jemmy.  As  for  tak- 
ing notice  of  it,  Sir  Henry  may  be  nothing  very  wonder- 
ful. But,  at  any  rate,  he  is  a  gentleman." 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  that  you  have  found  that  out.  I 
thought  nobody  could  be  a  gentleman  unless  he  lived  in  a 
farm-house,  and  could  do  a  day's  ploughing,  and  shear  his 
own  sheep." 

"  Yes,  oh  yes !  If  he  can  roll  his  own  pills,  and  mix 
his  own  black  draughts,  and  stick  a  knife  into  any  one." 

"  Now,  it  is  no  use  trying  to  insult  me,  my  dear  girl. 
My  profession  is  above  all  that." 

"  What,  above  its  own  business  ?  Oh,  Jemmy,  Jemmy  ! 
And  yet,  you  know,  you  were  afraid  sometimes  of  leaving 
it  all  to  that  little  boy  George.  However,  George  did  the 
best  part  of  it." 

"  Christie,  I  shall  be  off,  because  you  don't  know  what 
you  are  talking  of.  I  am  sorry  for  any  man  who  gets 
you." 

"  Ha !     That  depends  upon  whether  I  like  him.     If  I 


VAGABONDS  297 

do,  wouldn't  I  polish  his  boots  ?  If  I  don't,  wouldn't  I 
have  the  hair  off  his  head  ?" 

"Good-bye,  my  dear  child.  You  will  be  better  by- 
and-by." 

"  Stop,"  exclaimed  Christie,  who  perceived  that  dear 
Jemmy  preferred  to  have  it  out  with  her  when  she  might 
be  less  ready ;  "  don't  be  in  such  a  hurry.  There  is  no 
child  with  the  measles,  which  is  about  the  worst  human 
complaint  that  you  can  cure.  Just  answer  me  one  ques- 
tion. Have  I  ever  interfered  between  you  and  Nicie 
Waldron  ?" 

"  The  Lord  look  down  upon  me  !  What  an  idea  !  As 
if  you  could  ever  be  so  absurd !" 

"  The  Lord  looks  down  upon  me,  also,  Jemmy,"  said 
Christie,  passing  into  a  different  mood.  "  And  He  gives 
me  the  right  to  see  to  my  own  happiness  without  con- 
sulting you  any  more  than  you  do  me." 

The  doctor  made  off  without  another  word,  for  he  was 
not  a  quarrelsome  fellow,  especially  when  he  felt  that  he 
would  get  the  worst  of  it. 

"  Let  her  alone  a  bit,"  he  told  his  mother.  "  She  has 
been  so  much  used  to  have  her  own  way  that  she  expects 
to  have  it  always.  It  will  require  a  little  judgment  and 
careful  handling  to  bring  her  out  of  her  absurdities.  You 
must  not  expect  her  to  have  the  sense  a  man  has.  And 
she  has  got  an  idea  that  she  is  so  clever,  which  makes 
her  confoundedly  obstinate.  If  you  had  heard  how  inso- 
lent she  was  to  me  you  would  have  been  angry  with  her. 
But  she  cannot  vex  me  with  her  childish  little  talk.  I 
shall  go  for  a  thirty-mile  ride,  dear  mother,  to  get  a  little 
fresh  air  after  all  that.  Don't  expect  me  back  to  dinner. 
Be  distant  with  her,  and  let  her  see  that  you  are  grieved ; 
but  give  her  no  chance  of  arguing — if,  indeed,  she  calls 
such  stuff  argument." 

In  a  few  minutes  he  was  on  the  back  of  "  Perle  " — as  he 
called  the  kindly  and  free-going  little  mare  who  had  brought 
him  again  from  Perlycross — and  trotting  briskly  towards 
the  long  curve  of  highlands  which  form  the  western  bul- 
wark of  the  Mendip  Hills.  The  weather  had  been  very 
mild  and  rather  stormy,  ever  since  the  Christmas  frost 
broke  up,  and  now,  in  the  first  week  of  the  year,  the  air 
13* 


298  PEKLYCROSS 

was  quite  gentle  and  pleasant.  But  the  roads  were  heavy 
and  very  soft,  as  they  always  are  in  a  thaw ;  and  a  great 
deal  of  water  was  out  in  the  meadows,  and  even  in  the 
ditches  alongside  of  the  lanes. 

In  a  puzzle  of  country  roads  and  commons,  farther  from 
home  than  his  usual  track,  and  very  poorly  furnished  with 
guide-posts,  Fox  rode  on  without  asking  whither ;  caring 
only  for  the  exercise  and  air,  and  absorbed  in  thought 
about  the  present  state  of  things,  both  at  Perly cross 
and  Foxden.  To  his  quick  perception  and  medical  knowl- 
edge it  was  clear  that  his  father's  strength  was  failing 
gradually,  but  without  recall.  And  one  of  the  very  few 
things  that  can  be  done  by  medical  knowledge  is  that  it 
can  tell  us  (when  it  likes)  that  it  is  helpless. 

Now  Jemmy  was  fond  of  his  father,  although  there 
had  been  many  breezes  between  them  ;  and,  as  nature  will 
have  it,  he  loved  him  a  hundred-fold  now  that  he  was  sure 
to  lose  him.  Moreover,  the  change  in  his  own  position, 
which  must  ensue  upon  his  father's  death,  was  entirely 
against  his  liking.  What  he  liked  was  simplicity,  plain  liv- 
ing, and  plain  speaking,  with  enough  of  this  world's  goods 
to  help  a  friend  in  trouble  or  a  poor  man  in  distress;  but 
not  enough  to  put  one  in  a  fright  about  the  responsibility, 
that  turns  the  gold  to  lead.  But  now,  if  he  should  be 
compelled  to  take  his  father's  place  at  Foxden,  as  a  land- 
owner and  a  wealthy  man,  he  must  give  up  the  practice 
of  his  beloved  art,  he  must  give  up  the  active  and 
changeful  life,  the  free-and-easy  manners,  and  the  game 
with  Bill  and  Dick,  and  assume  the  slow  dignity  and 
stiff  importance,  the  consciousness  of  being  an  example 
and  a  law,  and  all  the  other  briers  and  blackthorns  in  the 
paradise  of  wealth  and  station.  Yet,  even  while  he  sighed 
at  the  coming  transformation,  it  never  occurred  to  him 
that  his  sister  was  endowed  with  tastes  no  less  simple 
than  his  own,  and  was  not  compelled  by  duty  to  forego 
them. 

Occupied  thus,  and  riding  loose-reined  without  knowing 
or  caring  whither,  he  turned  the  corner  of  a  high-banked 
lane  and  came  upon  a  sight  which  astonished  him.  The 
deep  lane  ended  with  a  hunting-gate,  leading  to  an  open 
track  across  a  level  pasture,  upon  which  the  low  sun  cast 


VAGABONDS  299 

long  shadows  of  the  rider's  hat  and  shoulders  and  elbow 
lifted  to  unhasp  the  gate.  Turning  in  the  saddle  he  be- 
held a  grand  and  fiery  sunset,  such  as  in  mild  weather 
often  closes  a  winter  but  not  wintry  day. 

A  long  cloud-bank,  straight  and  level  at  the  base,  but 
arched  and  pulpy  in  its  upper  part,  irabosomed  and  turned 
into  a  deep  red  glow  the  yellow  flush  of  the  departing 
sun.  Below  this  great  volume  of  vapoury  fire  were  long, 
thin  streaks  of  carmine,  pencilled  very  delicately  on  a 
background  of  limpid  hyaline.  It  was  not  the  beauty  of 
the  sky,  however,  nor  the  splendour,  nor  the  subtlety,  that 
made  the  young  man  stop  and  gaze.  Fine  sunsets  he  had 
seen  by  the  hundred,  and  looked  at  them,  if  there  was 
time  to  spare  ;  but  what  he  had  never  seen  before  was  the 
grandeur  of  the  earth's  reply. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  level  land,  a  furlong  or  so 
in  front  of  him,  arose  the  great  breastwork  to  leagues  of 
plain ;  first  a  steep  pitch  of  shale  and  shingle,  channelled 
with  storm-lines,  and  studded  with  gorse ;  and  then,  from 
its  crest,  a  tall  crag,  towering  straight  and  smooth  as  a 
castle  wall.  The  rugged  pediment  was  dark  and  dim,  and 
streaked  with  sombre  shadows ;  but  the  bastion  cliff  above 
it  mantled  with  a  deep  red  glow,  as  if  colour  had  its 
echo,  in  answer  to  the  rich  suffusion  of  that  sunset  cloud. 
Even  the  ivy  and  other  creepers  on  its  kindled  face  shone 
forth  like  chaplets  thrown  upon  a  shield  of  ruddy  gold. 
And  all  the  environed  air  was  thrilling  with  the  pulses  of 
red  light. 

Fox  was  smitten  with  rare  delight — for  he  was  an  ob- 
servant fellow — and  even  "Perle's"  bright  eyes  expanded, 
as  if  they  had  never  seen  such  a  noble  vision.  "I'll  be  up 
there  before  it  is  gone,"  cried  Jemmy,  like  a  boy  in  full 
chase  of  a  rainbow  ;  "  the  view  from  that  crag  must  be 
glorious." 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  stood  a  queer  little  hostel  called 
the  Smoking  Limekiln ;  and  there  he  led  his  mare  into 
the  stable,  ordered  some  bread  and  cheese  for  half  an 
hour  later,  and  made  off  at  speed  for  the  steep  ascent. 
Active  as  he  was  and  sound  of  foot,  he  found  it  a  slip- 
pery and  awkward  climb,  on  account  of  the  sliding  shin- 
gle ;  but  after  a  sharp  bout  of  leaping  and  scrambling  he 


300  PERLYCEOSS 

stood  at  the  base  of  the  vertical  rock,  and  looked  back 
over  the  lowlands. 

The  beauty  of  colour  was  vanishing  now,  and  the  glory 
of  the  clouds  grown  sombre,  for  the  sun  had  sunk  into  a 
pale  gray  bed ;  but  the  view  was  vast  and  striking.  The 
fairest  and  richest  of  English  land,  the  broad  expanse  of 
the  western  plains  for  leagues  and  leagues  rolled  before 
him,  deepening  beneath  the  approach  of  night,  and  shin- 
ing with  veins  of  silver  where  three  flooded  rivers  wound 
their  way.  Afar  towards  the  north  a  faint  gleam  showed 
the  hovering  of  light  above  the  Severn  sea, whence  slender 
threads  of  fog  began  to  steal  like  snakes  up  the  water- 
courses and  the  marshy  inlets.  Before  there  was  time  to 
watch  them  far  the  veil  of  dusk  fell  over  them,  and  things 
unwatched  stood  forth,  and  took  a  prominence  unaccount- 
able, according  to  the  laws  of  twilight,  arbitrary  and  mys- 
terious. 

Fox  felt  that  the  view  had  repaid  his  toil,  and  set  his 
face  to  go  down  again,  with  a  tendency  towards  bread  and 
cheese ;  but  his  very  first  step  caused  such  a  slide  of  shin- 
gle and  loose  ballast  that  he  would  have  been  lucky  to 
escape  with  a  broken  bone  had  he  followed  it.  There- 
upon, instead  of  descending  there,  he  thought  it  wiser  to 
keep  along  the  ledge  at  the  foot  of  the  precipice,  and 
search  for  a  safer  track  down  the  hill.  None,  however, 
presented  itself,  until  he  had  turned  the  corner  of  the  lime- 
stone crag,  and  reached  its  southern  side,  where  the  de- 
scent became  less  abrupt  and  stony. 

Here  he  was  stepping  sideways  down,  for  the  pitch  was 
still  sharp  and  dangerous,  and  the  daylight  failing  in  the 
blinks  of  the  hill,  when  he  heard  a  loud  shout — "  Jemmy  ! 
Jemmy  !" — which  seemed  to  spring  out  of  the  earth  at 
his  feet.  In  the  start  of  surprise  he  had  shaped  his  lips 
for  the  answering  hollo,  when  good-luck  more  than  dis- 
cretion saved  him ;  for  both  his  feet  slipped,  and  his 
breath  was  caught.  By  a  quick  turn  he  recovered  his  bal- 
ance ;  but  the  check  had  given  him  time  to  think,  and 
spying  a  stubby  cornel-bush,  he  came  to  a  halt  behind  it, 
and  looked  through  the  branches  cautiously. 

Some  twenty  yards  farther  down  the  hill  he  saw  a  big 
man  come  striding  forth  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth — 


VAGABONDS  301 

as  it  seemed  at  first — and  then  standing  with  his  back 
turned,  and  the  haze  beyond  enlarging  him.  And  then 
again  that  mighty  shout  rang  up  the  steep  and  down  the 
valley — "  Jemmy,  Jemmy,  come  back,  I  tell  thee  ;  or  I'll 
let  thee  know  what's  what !" 

Fox  kept  close,  and  crouched  in  his  bush,  for  he  never 
had  seen  such  a  man  till  now,  unless  it  were  in  a  caravan  ; 
and  a  shudder  ran  through  him  as  it  came  home  that  his 
friend  down  there  could  with  one  hand  rob,  throttle,  and 
throw  him  down  a  mining-shaft.  This  made  him  keep 
a  very  sharp  lookout,  and  have  one  foot  ready  for  the 
lightest  of  leg-bail. 

Presently  a  man  of  moderate  stature,  who  could  have 
walked  under  the  other's  arm,  came  panting  and  grum- 
bling back  again  from  a  bushy  track  leading  downward. 
He  flung  something  on  the  ground  and  asked — 

"  What  be  up  now,  to  vetch  me  back  uphill  forV  Har- 
vey, there  bain't  no  sense  in  'e.  Maight  every  bit  as  well 
a'  had  it  out  over  a  half -pint  of  beer." 

"  Sit  you  there,  Jem,"  replied  the  other,  pressing  him 
down  on  a  ledge  of  stone  with  the  weight  of  one  thumb 
on  his  shoulder.  Then  he  sat  himself  down  on  a  higher 
ridge,  and  pulled  out  a  pipe,  with  a  sigh  as  loud  as  the 
bellows  of  a  forge  could  compass ;  and  then  slowly  spread 
upon  the  dome  of  his  knee  a  patch  of  German  punk,  and 
struck  sparks  into  it. 

There  was  just  light  enough  for  Fox  to  see  that  the 
place  where  they  sat  was  the  mouth  of  a  mining  shaft,  or 
sloping  adit,  over  the  rough  stone  crown  of  which,  stand- 
ing as  he  did  upon  a  higher  level,  he  could  descry  their 
heads  and  shoulders,  and  the  big  man's  fingers  as  he 
moved  them  round  his  pipe.  Presently  a  whiff  of  coarse 
brown  smoke  came  floating  uphill  to  the  doctor's  nostrils, 
and  his  blood  ran  cold  as  he  began  to  fear  that  this  great 
Harvey  must  be  the  Harvey  Tremlett  of  whom  he  had 
heard  from  Mr.  Penniloe. 

"Made  up  my  maind,  I  have.  Can't  stand  this  no 
longer,"  said  the  big  man,  with  the  heavy  drawl  which 
nature  has  inflicted  upon  very  heavy  men.  "  Can't  get  no 
more  for  a  long  day's  work  than  a  hop-o'-my-thumb  like 
you  does." 


302  PEKLYCKOSS 

"  And  good  raison  why,  mate.  Do  'e  ever  do  a  hard 
day's  work?"  Fox  could  have  sworn  that  the  smaller 
throat  gave  utterance  to  the  larger  share  of  truth.  "What 
be  the  vally  of  big  arms  and  legs,  when  a  chap  dothn't 
care  to  make  use  of  'un  ?" 

But  the  big  man  was  not  controversial.  Giants  are 
generally  above  that  weakness.  He  gave  a  long  puff,  and 
confined  himself  to  facts. 

"  Got  my  money,  and  d little  it  is.  And  now  I 

means  to  hook  it.  You  can  hang  on,  if  you  be  vule 
enough." 

"  What  an  old  Turk  it  is !"  Jem  replied,  reproachfully. 
"  Did  ever  you  know  me  throw  you  over,  Harvey  ?  Who 
is  it  brings  you  all  the  luck  ?  Tell  'e  what — let's  go  back 
to  Clampits.  What  a  bit  o'  luck  that  louderin'  wor  !" 

"  Hor,  hor,  hor  !"  the  big  man  roared.  "  A  purty  lot 
they  be  to  Perlycrass  !  To  take  Jemmy  Kettel  for  a  gen- 
tleman !  And  a  doctor,  too  !  O  Lord  !  0  Lord  !  Doctor 
Jemmy  Vox  Kettel  !  Licensed  to  deal  in  zalts  and  zenna, 
powders,  pills,  and  bolusses.  Oh,  Jemmy,  Jemmy,  my 
eye,  my  eye  !" 

"  Could  do  it,  I'll  be  bound,  as  well  as  he  doth.  A 
vaine  doctor,  to  dig  up  the  squire  of  the  parish,  and  do  it 
wrong  way,  too,  they  zay  of  'un  !  Vaine  doctor,  wasn't  un  ? 
O  Lord  !  O  Lord  !" 

As  these  two  rovers  combined  in  a  hearty  roar  of  mirth 
at  his  expense,  Dr.  Jemmy  Fox,  instead  of  being  grateful 
for  a  purely  impartial  opinion,  gave  way  to  ill  feeling,  and 
stamped  one  foot  in  passionate  remonstrance.  Too  late  he 
perceived  that  this  movement  of  his  had  started  a  pebble 
below  the  cornel-bush  and  sent  it  rolling  down  the  steep. 
Away  went  the  pebble  with  increasing  skips,  and  striking 
the  crown  of  the  pit-mouth  flew  just  over  the  heads  of  the 
uncouth  jokers. 

"Hollo,  Jemmy!  Anybody  up  there?  Just  you  goo 
and  look,  my  boy." 

Fox  shrunk  into  himself  as  he  heard  those  words  in  a 
quicker  roar  coming  up  to  him.  If  they  should  discover 
him,  his  only  chance  would  be  to  bound  down  the  hill, 
reckless  of  neck,  and  desperate  of  accident.  But  the  light 
of  the  sky  at  the  top  of  the  hill  was  blocked  by  the  ram- 


VAGABONDS  303 

part  of  rock,  and  so  there  was  nothing  for  him  to  be 
marked  upon. 

"  Nort  but  a  badger  or  a  cony  there,  I  reckon,"  Jem 
Kettel  said,  after  peering  up  the  steep  ;  and  just  then  a 
rabbit  of  fast  style  of  life  whisked  by.  "  Goo  on,  Harvey. 
Yon  haVt  offered  me  no  'bacco !" 

"You  tak'  and  vinish  'un ;"  said  the  lofty -minded 
giant,  poking  his  pipe  between  the  other  fellow's  teeth. 
"  And  now  you  give  opinion,  if  the  Lord  hath  gived 
thee  any." 

"  Well,  I  be  up  for  bunkum  every  bit  so  much  as  you. 
be.  But  where  shall  us  be  off  to  ?  That's  the  p'int  of 
zettlement.  Clampits,  I  say.  Roaring  fun  there,  and  the 
gim'-keepers  aveared  of  'e." 

"  Darsn't  goo  there  yet,  I  tell  'e.  Last  thing  old  moother 
did  was  to  send  me  word  passon  to  Perlycrass  had  got  the 
tip  on  me.  Don't  want  no  bother  with  them  blessed 
Beaks  again." 

"  Wonder  you  didn't  goo  and  twist  the  passon's  neck." 
The  faithful  mate  looked  up  at  him  as  if  the  captain  had 
failed  of  his  duty  unaccountably. 

"  Wouldn't  touch  a  hair  of  that  man's  head  if  it  wor 
here  atwixt  my  two  knees."  Harvey  Tremlett  brought  his 
fist  down  on  his  thigh  with  a  smack  that  made  the  stones 
ring  round  him.  "  Tell  'e  why,  Jem  Kettel.  He  have 
took  my  little  Zip  along  of  his  own  chiller,  and  a'  maneth 
to  make  a  lady  on  her.  And  a  lady  the  little  wench  hath 
a  right  to  be — just  you  say  the  contrairy — if  hanncient 
vam'ley,  and  all  that,  have  right  to  count.  Us  Tremletts 
was  here  long  afore  they  Waldrons." 

The  smaller  man  appeared  afraid  to  speak.  He  knew 
the  weak  point  of  the  big  man,  perhaps,  and  that  silence 
oils  all  such  bearings. 

"Tull  'e  what,  Jemmy,"  said  the  other,  coming  round 
after  stripping  his  friend's  mouth  of  his  proper  pipe,  "  us 
?11  go  up  country — shoulder  packs  and  be  off,  soon  as 
ever  the  moon  be  up.  Like  to  see  any  man  stop  me,  I 
would." 

He  stood  up  with  the  power  of  his  mighty  size  upon 
him — a  man  who  seemed  fit  to  stop  an  avalanche,  and  able 
to  give  as  much  trouble  about  stopping  him. 


304  PEELYCROSS 

"  All  right ;  I  be  your  man,"  replied  the  other,  speak- 
ing as  if  he  were  quite  as  big,  and  upon  the  whole  more 
important.  "  Bristol  fust,  and  then  Lunnon,  if  so  plaise 
'e.  Always  a  bit  of  louderin'  there.  But  that  remindeth 
me  of  Perlycrass.  Us  be  bound  to  be  back  by  fair-time, 
you  know.  Can't  afford  to  miss  old  Timberlegs." 

"Time  enow  for  that,"  Harvey  Tremlett  answered.  "Zix 
or  zeven  weeks  yet  to  Perlycrass  fair.  What  time  wor  it 
as  old  Timberlegs  app'inted  ?" 

"  Ten  o'clock  at  naight,  by  church-yard  wall.  Reckon 
the  old  man  hath  another  job  of  louderin'  handy.  What 
a  spree  that  wor,  and  none  a  rap  the  wiser !  Come  along, 
Harvey,  let's  have  a  pint  at  the  Kiln,  to  drink  good-luck 
to  this  here  new  start." 

The  big  man  took  his  hat  off,  while  the  other  jumped 
nimbly  on  a  stump  and  flung  over  his  head  the  straps  of 
both  their  bundles ;  and  then,  with  a  few  more  leisurely 
and  peaceful  oaths,  they  quitted  their  stony  platform  and 
began  to  descend  the  winding  path  from  which  Jem  Ket- 
tel  had  been  recalled. 

Fox  was  content  for  a  minute  or  two  with  peeping  warily 
after  them,  while  his  whole  frame  tingled  with  excitement, 
wrath,  and  horror,  succeeded  by  a  burning  joy  at  the 
knowledge  thus  vouchsafed  to  him  by  a  higher  power 
than  fortune.  As  soon  as  he  felt  certain  that  they  could 
not  see  him,  even  if  they  looked  back  again,  he  slipped 
from  his  lurking-place,  and  at  some  risk  of  limb  set  off  in 
a  straighter  course  than  theirs  for  the  public-house  in  the 
valley,  where  a  feeble  light  was  twinkling.  From  time  to 
time  he  could  hear  the  two  rovers  laughing  at  their  leisure, 
probably  with  fine  enjoyment  of  very  bad  jokes  at  his  ex- 
pense. But  he  set  his  teeth  and  made  more  speed,  and 
keeping  his  distance  from  them  easily  arrived  first  at  the 
inn,  where  he  found  his  bread  and  cheese  set  forth  in  a 
little  private  parlour  having  a  fair  view  of  the  bar. 

This  suited  him  well,  for  his  object  was  to  obtain  so 
clear  a  sight  of  them  that  no  change  of  dress  or  disguise 
should  cast  any  doubt  upon  their  identity;  and  he  felt 
sure  that  they  were  wending  hither  to  drink  godspeed 
to  their  enterprise.  There  was  not  much  fear  of  their 
recognizing  him,  even  if  his  face  were  known  to  them, 


VAGABONDS  305 

which  he  did  not  think  at  all  likely.  But  he  provided 
against  any  such  mishap  by  paying  his  bill  beforehand, 
and  placing  his  candle  so  that  his  face  was  in  the  dark. 
Then  he  fell  to  and  enjoyed  his  bread  and  cheese  ;  for  the 
ride  and  the  peril  had  produced  fine  relish,  and  a  genuine 
Cheddar — now  sighed  for  so  vainly — did  justice  to  its 
nativity.  He  also  enjoyed,  being  now  in  safety,  the  sweet 
sense  of  turning  the  tables  upon  his  wanton  and  hateful 
deriders. 

For  sure  enough,  while  his  mouth  was  full,  and  the 
froth  on  his  ale  was  winking  at  him,  in  came  those  two 
scoffing  fellows,  followed  by  a  dozen  other  miners.  It  ap- 
peared to  be  pay-night,  and  generous  men  were  shedding 
sixpences  on  one  another;  but  Fox  saw  enough  to  con- 
vince him  that  the  rest  fought  shy  of  his  two  acquaint- 
ances. 

When  he  saw  this  a  wild  idea  occurred  to  him  for  a 
moment — was  it  not  possible  to  arrest  that  pair  with  the 
aid  of  their  brother  miners?  But  a  little  consideration 
showed  the  folly  of  such  a  project.  He  had  no  warrant, 
no  witness,  no  ally,  and  he  was  wholly  unknown  in  that 
neighbourhood.  And  even  if  the  miners  should  believe 
his  tale,  would  they  combine  to  lay  hands  on  brother 
workmen  and  hand  them  over  to  the  mercies  of  the  law  ? 
Even  if  they  would,  it  was  doubtful  that  they  could,  sturdy 
fellows  though  they  were. 

But  the  young  man  was  so  loath  to  let  these  two  vaga- 
bonds get  away,  that  his  next  idea  was  to  bribe  somebody 
to  follow  them  and  keep  them  in  view  until  he  should 
come  in  chase,  armed  with  the  needful  warrant  and  sup- 
ported by  stout  posse  comitatus.  He  studied  the  faces  of 
his  friends  at  the  bar,  to  judge  whether  any  were  fitted 
for  the  job.  Alas !  among  all  those  rough  and  honest 
features  there  was  not  a  spark  of  craft  nor  a  flash  of  swift 
intelligence.  If  one  of  them  were  put  to  watch  another, 
the  first  thing  he  would  do  would  be  to  go  and  tell  him 
of  it. 

And  what  justice  of  the  peace  would  issue  warrant  upon 
a  stranger's  deposition  of  hearsays?  Much  against  his 
will,  Jemmy  Fox  perceived  that  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  give  these  two  rogues  a  wide  berth  for  the  present, 


306  PERLYCEOSS 


keep  his  own  counsel  most  jealously,  and  be  ready  to  meet 
them  at  Perlycross  fair.  And  even  so,  on  his  long  home- 
ward ride,  he  thought  that  the  prospect  was  brightening 
in  the  west;  and  that  he  with  his  name  cleared  might 
come  forward  and  assert  his  love  for  the  gentle  Nicie. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 
TWO    PUZZLES 


"  THEN,  if  I  understand  aright,  Lady  Waldron,  you  wish 
me  to  drop  all  further  efforts  for  the  detection  of  those 
miscreants?  and  that,  too,  at  the  very  moment  when  we 
had  some  reason  to  hope  that  we  should  at  last  succeed ; 
and  all  the  outlay,  which  is  no  trifle,  will  have  been  sim- 
ply thrown  away.  This  course  is  so  extraordinary  that 
you  will  not  think  me  inquisitive  if  I  beg  you  to  explain  it." 

Mr.  Webber,  the  lawyer,  was  knitting  his  forehead,  and 
speaking  in  a  tone  of  some  annoyance  and  much  doubt  as 
to  the  correctness  of  his  own  reluctant  inference.  Mean- 
while the  Spanish  lady  was  glancing  at  him  with  some 
dismay,  and  then  at  Mr.  Penniloe,  who  was  also  present, 
for  the  morning's  discussion  had  been  of  business  matters. 

"  No,  I  doubt  very  much  if  you  quite  comprehend,"  she 
answered,  with  Mr.  Penniloe's  calm  eyes  fixed  upon  her. 
"  I  did  not  propose  to  speak  entirely  like  that.  What  I 
was  desirous  of  describing  to  you  is,  that  to  me  it  is  less 
of  eagerness  to  be  going  on  with  so  much  haste  until  the 
return  of  my  dear  son.  He,  for  instance,  will  direct  things, 
and  with  his  great — great  command  of  the  mind,  will  make 
the  proceedings  to  succeed  if  it  should  prove  possible  for 
the  human  mind  to  do  it ;  and  there  is  no  one  in  this  re- 
gion that  can  refuse  him  anything." 

Mr.  Penniloe  saw  that  she  spoke  with  some  misgivings, 
and  shifted  her  gaze  from  himself  to  the  lawyer  and  back 
again  with  more  of  inquiry  and  less  of  dictation  than  her 
usual  tone  conveyed. 

"  The  matter  is  entirely  one  for  your  ladyship's  own  de- 
cision," replied  Mr.  Webber,  beginning  to  fold  up  the  pa- 
pers he  had  submitted.  "  Mr.  Penniloe  has  left  that  to  us, 
as  was  correct,  inasmuch  as  it  does  not  concern  the  trust. 


308  PERLYCROSS 

I  will  stop  all  inquiries  at  once,  upon  receiving  your  in- 
structions to  that  effect." 

"  But — but  I  think  you  do  not  well  comprehend.  Per- 
haps I  could  more  clearly  place  it  with  the  use  of  my  own 
tongue.  It  is  nothing  more  than  this :  I  wish  that  my 
dear  son  should  not  give  up  his  appointment  as  officer, 
and  come  back  to  this  country,  for  altogether  nothing.  I 
wish  that  he  should  have  the  delight  of  thinking  that — 
that  it  shall  be  of  his  own  procuration  to  unfold  this  mys- 
terious case.  Yes,  that  is  it — that  is  all  that  I  wish — to 
let  things  wait  a  little  until  my  son  comes." 

If  either  of  her  listeners  had  been  very  keen,  or  en- 
dowed with  the  terrier  nose  of  suspicion,  he  would  have 
observed,  perhaps,  that  the  lady  had  found  some  relief 
from  an  after-thought,  and  was  now  repeating  it  as  a  happy 
hit.  But  Mr.  Penniloe  was  too  large  and  Mr.  Webber  too 
rough  of  mind,  in  spite  of  legal  training,  to  pry  into  a 
lady's  little  turns  of  thought. 

"Very  well,  madam,"  said  the  lawyer,  rising,  "that  fin- 
ishes our  business  for  to-day,  I  think.  But  I  beg  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  your  son's  return.  I  cannot  call  to  mind 
that  I  have  heard  of  it  before.  Every  one  will  be  delight- 
ed to  see  him.  Even  in  his  father's  time  everybody  was 
full  of  him.  When  may  we  hope  to  see  him,  Lady  Wal- 
dron  ?" 

"  Before  very  long,  I  have  reason  for  good  hope,"  the 
lady  replied,  with  a  smile  restoring  much  of  the  beauty  of 
her  care-worn  face.  "  I  have  not  heard  the  day  yet,  but  I 
know  that  he  will  come.  He  has  to  obtain  permission 
from  all  the  proper  authorities,  of  course.  And  that  is  like 
your  very  long  and  very  costful  processes  of  the  Great 
British  law,  Mr.  Webber.  But  now  I  will  entreat  of  you 
to  excuse  me  any  more.  I  have  given  very  long  attention. 
Mr.  Webber,  will  you  then  oblige  me  by  being  the  host  to 
Mr.  Penniloe?  The  refreshment  is  in  the  approximate 
room." 

"  Devilish  fine  woman !"  Mr.  Webber  whispered,  as  her 
ladyship  sailed  away.  "  Wonderfully  clever,  too  !  How 
she  does  her  w's !  I  don't  know  much  about  them,  but  I 
always  understood  that  there  never  was  any  one  born  out 
of  England  who  could  make  head  or  tail  of  his  w's.  Why, 


TWO   PUZZLES  309 

she  speaks  English  quite  like  a  native.  But  I  see  you  are 
looking  at  me.  Shocking  manners,  I  confess,  to  swear  in 
the  presence  of  a  parson,  sir,  though  plenty  of  them  do  it 
— ha,  ha,  ha ! — in  their  own  absence,  I  suppose." 

"  It  is  not  my  presence,  Mr.  Webber — that  makes  it  nei- 
ther better  nor  worse ;  but  the  presence  of  God  is  every- 
where." 

"  To  be  sure — so  it  is.  Come  into  the  next  room.  Her 
ladyship  said  we  should  find  something  there.  I  suppose 
we  sha'n't  see  missy,  though,"  said  the  lawyer,  as  he  led 
the  parson  to  the  luncheon-table.  "  She  fights  very  shy  of 
your  humble  servant  now.  Girls  never  forgive  that  sort  of 
thing.  I  don't  often  make  such  a  mistake  though,  do  I? 
And  it  was  my  son  Waldron's  fault  altogether.  Waldron 
is  a  sharp  fellow,  but  not  like  me — can't  see  very  far  into 
a  mile-stone.  Pity  to  stop  the  case  before  we  cleared  Fox. 
I  don't  understand  this  new  turn,  though.  A  straw  shows 
the  way  the  wind  blows.  Something  behind  the  scenes, 
Mr.  Penniloe — more  there  than  meets  the  eye.  Is  it  true 
that  old  Fox  is  dropping  off  the  hooks  ?" 

"  If  you  mean  to  ask  me,  Mr.  Webber,  what  I  have  heard 
about  his  state  of  health,  I  fear  that  there  is  little  hope 
of  his  recovery.  Dr.  Fox  returns  to-morrow,  as  you  may 
have  heard  through — through  your  especial  agents.  You 
know  what  my  opinion  is  of  that  proceeding  on  your  part." 

"  Yes,  you  spoke  out  pretty  plainly.  And,  by  George, 
you  were  right,  sir  !  As  fine  a  property  as  any  in  the 
county.  I  had  no  idea  it  was  half  as  much.  Why,  bless 
my  heart,  sir,  Jemmy  Fox  will  be  worth  his  £8000  a  year, 
they  tell  me  !" 

"  I  am  glad  that  his  worth,"  Mr.  Penniloe  said,  quietly, 
"is  sufficient  per  annum  to  relieve  him  from  your  very 
dark  suspicion." 

"  Got  me  there  !"  replied  Webber,  with  a  laugh.  "  Ah, 
you  parsons  always  beat  the  lawyers.  Bury  us,  don't  you? 
—if  you  find  no  other  way.  But  we  get  the  last  fee,  after 
all.  Probate,  sir,  probate  is  an  expensive  thing.  Well,  I 
must  be  off.  I  see  my  gig  is  ready.  If  you  can  make 
my  peace  with  Jemmy  Fox,  say  a  word  for  me.  After  all, 
it  looked  uncommonly  black,  you  know.  And  young  men 
should  be  forgiving." 


310  PEKLYCKOSS 

Scarcely  had  his  loud  steps  ceased  to  ring,  when  a  very 
light  pitapat  succeeded,  and  Mr.  Penniloe  found  himself 
in  far  more  interesting  company.  Nicie  came  softly,  and 
put  back  her  hair,  and  offered  her  lovely  white  forehead 
to  be  kissed,  and  sat  down  with  a  smile  that  begged  par- 
don for  a  sigh. 

"  Oh,  Uncle  Penniloe,  I  am  so  glad  !  I  thought  I  should 
never  have  a  talk  with  you  again.  My  fortune  has  been  so 
frightful  lately.  Everything  against  me,  the  same  as  it 
has  been  with  this  dear  little  soul  here." 

She  pointed  to  Jess,  the  wounded  one,  who  trotted  in 
cheerfully  upon  three  legs,  with  the  other  strapped  up  in 
a  white  silk  pouch.  The  little  doggie  wagged  her  tail, 
and  looked  up  at  the  clergyman  with  her  large  eyes  full 
of  soft  gratitude  and  love  ;  as  by  that  reflex  action,  which 
a  dog's  eyes  have  without  moving,  they  took  in — and  told 
their  intense  delight  in  —  that  vigilant  nurse  and  sweet 
comrade,  Nicie. 

"  Oh,  she  is  so  proud,"  Miss  Waldron  said,  looking 
twice  as  proud  herself ;  "  this  is  the  first  time  that  she 
has  had  the  privilege  of  going  upon  three  legs  without 
anybody's  hand ;  and  she  does  think  so  much  of  herself ! 
Jess,  go  and  show  Uncle  Penniloe  what  she  can  do,  now 
her  health  is  coming  back.  Jess,  go  and  cut  a  little 
caper — very  steadily,  you  know,  for  fear  of  going  twisty  ; 
and  keep  her  tail  up  all  the  time !  Now  Jess,  come  and 
have  a  pretty  kiss ;  because  she  has  earned  it  splendidly. 
She  takes  my  breath  away,  because  she  is  so  good," 
continued  Nicie,  leaning  over  her.  "  I  have  studied  her 
character  for  six  weeks  now,  and  there  is  not  a  flaw  to 
be  found  in  it,  unless  it  is  a  noble  sort  of  jealousy. 
Pixie" — here  Jess  uttered  a  sharp,  small  growl,  and 
showed  a  few  teeth  as  good  as  ever — "I  must  not 
mention  his  name  again,  because  it  won't  do  to  excite 
her ;  but  he  is  out  in  the  cold  altogether,  because  he  has 
never  shown  any  heroism.  No,  no,  he  sha'n't  come,  Jess. 
He  is  locked  up  for  want  of  chivalry.  Oh,  Uncle  Penni- 
loe, there  is  one  question  I  have  long  been  wanting  to  ask 
you.  Do  you  think  it  possible  for  even  God  to  forgive 
the  man — the  brute,  I  mean — who  slashed  this  little  dear 
like  that  for  being  so  loving  and  so  true  ?" 


TWO    PUZZLES  311 

"  My  dear  child,"  Mr.  Penniloe  replied,  "  I  have  just 
been  saying  to  myself,  how  like  your  dear  father  you  are 
growing — in  goodness  and  kindness  of  face,  I  mean. 
But  when  you  look  like  that,  the  resemblance  is  quite  lost. 
I  should  never  have  thought  you  capable  of  such  a  fero- 
cious aspect." 

"  Ah,  that  is  because  you  don't  know  what  I  can  do." 
But  as  she  spoke  her  arched  brows  were  relaxing,  and  her 
flashing  eyes  filled  with  their  usual  soft  gleam.  "  You  for- 
get that  I  am  half  a  Spaniard  still,  or  at  any  rate  a  quar- 
ter one,  and  therefore  I  can  be  very  terrible  sometimes. 
Ah,  you  should  have  seen  me  the  other  day.  I  let  some- 
body know  who  I  am.  He  thought,  perhaps,  that  butter 
wouldn't  melt  in  my  mouth.  Did  not  I  astonish  him,  the 
impertinent,  low  wretch  ?" 

"  Why  Nicie,  this  is  not  at  all  like  you :  I  always 
quote  you  as  a  model  of  sweet  temper.  Who  can  have 
aroused  your  angry  passions  thus  ?" 

"  Oh,  never  mind.  I  should  like  to  tell  you,  and  I  want 
to  tell  you  very  much.  But  I  am  not  permitted,  though 
I  don't  know  why.  My  mother  has  begged  me  particularly 
not  to  speak  of  that  man  who  came — gentleman,  I  suppose 
he  would  call  himself — but  there,  I  am  telling  you  all 
about  him !  And  mother  is  so  different,  and  so  much 
more  humble  now.  If  she  were  still  as  unfair  as  she  was, 
I  should  not  be  so  particular.  But  she  seems  to  be  so 
sad,  and  so  mysterious  now,  without  accusing  any  one. 
And  so  I  will  not  say  a  word  against  her  orders.  You 
would  not  wish  it,  Uncle  Penniloe,  I  am  sure." 

"  Certainly  not,  my  dear.  I  will  not  ask  another  ques- 
tion. I  have  noticed  that  your  mother  is  quite  differ- 
ent, myself.  I  hope  she  is  not  falling  into  really  bad 
health."  ' 

"  No,  I  don't  think  that — but  into  frightfully  low  spir- 
its. We  have  enough  to  account  for  that,  haven't  we, 
Uncle  Penniloe?  To  think  of  my  dear  father,  all  this 
time  !  What  can  I  do  ?  I  am  so  wretchedly  helpless.  I 
try  to  trust  in  God,  and  to  say  to  myself — *  What  does  the 
earthly  part  matter,  after  all,  when  the  soul  is  with  the 
Lord,  or  only  waiting  for  His  time,  and  perhaps  reward- 
ed all  the  better — because — because  of  wicked  treatment 


312  PERLYCEOSS 

here  ?'  But  oh,  it  won't  do,  Uncle  Penniloe,  it  won't,  when 
I  think  how  noble  and  how  good  he  was,  and  to  be  treated 
in  that  way  I  And  then  I  fall  away,  and  cry,  and  sob,  and 
there  comes  such  a  pain — such  a  pain  in  my  heart,  that 
I  have  no  breath  left,  and  can  only  lie  down  and  pray 
that  God  would  take  me  to  my  father.  Is  it  wicked  ?  I 
suppose  it  is.  But  how  am  I  to  help  it  ?" 

"  No,  my  dear,  it  is  not  wicked  to  give  way  sometimes." 
The  parson's  voice  was  tremulous  at  sight  of  her  distress, 
and  remembrance  of  his  own,  not  so  very  long  ago.  "  Sor- 
row is  sent  to  all  of  us,  and  doubtless  for  our  good ;  and 
if  we  did  not  feel  it,  how  could  we  be  at  all  improved  by 
it  ?  But  you  have  borne  it  well,  my  child ;  and  so  has 
your  good  mother,  considering  how  the  first  sad  blow  has 
been  doubled  and  prolonged  so  strangely.  But  now  it  will 
be  better  for  you,  ever  so  much  better,  Nicie,  with  your 
dear  brother  home  again." 

"  But  when  will  that  be  ?  Perhaps  not  for  years.  We 
do  not  even  know  where  he  is.  They  were  not  likely  to 
stay  long  in  Malta.  He  may  be  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  by  this  time,  if  the  ship  has  had  long  enough  to  get 
there.  Everything  seems  to  be  so  much  against  us." 

"  Are  you  sure  that  you  are  right,  my  dear  ?"  Mr.  Pen- 
niloe asked,  with  no  little  surprise.  "  From  what  your 
mother  said  just  now,  I  hoped  that  I  should  see  my  old 
pupil  very  soon." 

"  I  am  afraid  not,  Uncle  Penniloe.  My  dear  mother 
seems  to  confuse  things  a  little,  or  not  quite  understand 
them.  Through  her  late  illness,  no  doubt  it  is.  We  have 
not  had  a  word  from  Tom  since  that  letter  which  had  such 
a  wonderful  effect,  as  I  told  you,  when  you  were  gone  to 
London.  And  then,  if  you  remember,  he  had  no  idea  how 
long  they  were  to  be  at  Valetta.  And  he  said  nothing 
about  their  future  movements  very  clearly.  So  full  of  his 
duties,  no  doubt,  that  he  had  no  time  to  write  long  particu- 
lars. Even  now  he  may  never  have  heard  of — of  what  has 
happened,  and  our  sad  condition.  They  may  have  been 
at  sea  ever  since  he  wrote.  Soldiers  can  never  tell  where 
they  may  have  to  be." 

"  That  has  always  been  so,  and  is  a  part  of  discipline" 
• — the  parson  was  thinking  of  the  Centurion  and  his  men. 


TWO    PUZZLES  313 

"  But  even  if  your  letter  should  have  gone  astray,  they 
must  have  seen  some  English  newspapers,  I  should  think." 

"  Tom  is  very  clever,  as  you  know,  Uncle  Penniloe ; 
but  he  never  reads  a  word  when  he  can  help  it.  And  be- 
sides that,  it  is  only  fair  to  remember  that  he  is  under 
Government.  And  the  Government  never  neglects  an  op- 
portunity of  turning  right  into  left,  and  the  rest  upside- 
down.  If  all  the  baggage  intended  for  their  draft  was 
sent  to  the  West  Indies  because  they  were  ordered  to 
the  East,  it  ought  to  follow  that  their  letters  would  go, 
too.  But  the  worst  of  it  is  that  one  cannot  be  sure  they 
will  stick  to  a  mistake  after  making  it." 

"  It  is  most  probable  that  they  would ;  especially  if  it 
were  pointed  out  to  them.  Your  dear  father  told  me 
that  they  never  forgive  anybody  for  correcting  them.  But 
how,  then,  could  your  mother  feel  so  sure  about  Tom's  com- 
ing home  almost  immediately  ?" 

"  It  puzzles  me,  until  I  have  time  to  think,"  answered 
Nicie,  looking  down.  "  She  has  never  said  a  word  to  me 
about  it,  beyond  praying  and  hoping  for  Tom  to  come 
home.  Oh,  I  know,  or  at  least  I  can  guess,  how !  She 
may  have  had  a  dream — she  believes  firmly  in  her  dreams, 
and  she  has  not  had  time  to  tell  me  yet." 

Mr.  Penniloe  had  no  right  to  seek  further,  and  no  incli- 
nation so  to  do.  The  meanest,  mangiest,  and  most  sneak- 
ing understrapper  of  that  recent  addition  to  our  liberal 
institutions — the  "  Private  Inquiry  Firm  " — could  never 
have  suspected  Nicie  Waldron,  after  looking  at  her,  of  any 
of  those  subterfuges  which  he  (like  a  slack-skinned  worm) 
wriggles  into.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  who  could  suppose 
that  Lady  Waldron  would  endeavour  to  mislead  her  own 
man  of  business  by  a  trumpery  deceit  ?  And  yet,  who 
was  that  strange  visitor,  of  whom  her  daughter  was  not 
allowed  to  speak  ? 

Unable  to  understand  these  things,  the  curate  shortly 
took  his  leave,  being  resolved,  like  a  wise  man,  to  think 
as  little  as  he  could  about  them,  until  Time — that  mighty 
locksmith,  at  whom  even  Love  rarely  wins  the  latest  laugh 
— should  bring  his  skeleton  key  to  bear  on  the  wards  of 
this  enigma. 

What  else  can  a  busy  man  do,  when  puzzled  even  by 
14 


314  PEELYCKOSS 

his  own  affairs?  And  how  much  more  must  it  be  so  in 
the  business  of  other  persons,  which  he  doubts  his  right 
to  meddle  with  ?  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
find  any  male  member  of  our  race  more  deeply  moved  by 
the  haps  and  mishaps  of  his  fellow-creatures  than  this 
parson  of  Perlycross ;  and  yet  he  could  take  a  rosier  view 
for  most  of  them  than  they  took  for  themselves.  So 
when  he  left  the  grounds  of  Walderscourt  he  buttoned 
up  his  spencer,  and  stepped  out  bravely,  swinging  his 
stick  vigorously,  and  trusting  in  the  Lord. 

"  What  did  'e  hat  me  vor,  like  that  ?"  cried  a  voice  of 
complaint  from  a  brambled  ditch  outside  a  thick  copse 
known  as  "  Puddicombe  Wood."  Mr.  Penniloe  had  not 
got  his  glasses  on,  and  was  grieved  to  feel  rather  than 
to  see,  although  he  was  at  the  right  end  of  his  stick, 
that  he  had  brought  it  down  (with  strong  emphasis  of 
a  passage  in  his  coming  sermon)  on  the  head  of  a  croucher 
in  that  tangled  ditch. 

"  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon !  I  am  so  sorry.  I  had  not 
the  least  idea  there  was  anybody  there.  I  was  thinking 
of  the  sower,  and  the  tares  that  choke  the  seed.  But 
get  up,  and  let  me  see  what  I  have  done.  What  made 
you  hide  yourself  down  there  ?  I  am  not  the  game-keeper. 
Why,  it  is  Sam  Speccotty  !  Poaching  again,  I  am  afraid, 
Sam.  But  I  hope  I  have  not  hurt  you — so  very  much." 

"  Bruk'  my  head  in  two.  That's  what  you  have  done, 
passon.  Oh,  you  can't  goo  to  tell  on  me,  after  hatting 
me  on  the  brains  with  club-stick !  Ooh,  ooh,  ooh  !  I  be 
gooing  to  die,  I  be." 

"  Speccotty,  no  lies  and  no  shamming  !" — Mr.  Penniloe 
put  on  his  spectacles,  for  he  knew  his  customer  well 
enough — a  notorious  poacher,  but  very  seldom  punished, 
because  he  was  considered  "  a  natural."  "  This  is  no  club- 
stick,  but  a  light  walking-stick;  and  between  it  and  your 
head  there  was  a  thick  brier,  as  well  as  this  vast  mop  of 
hair.  Let  me  see  what  you  have  got  under  that  tree- 
root." 

Sam  had  been  vainly  endeavouring  to  lead  his  minister 
away  from  his  own  little  buried  napkin,  or  rather  sack  of 
hidden  treasure.  "  Turn  it  out,"  commanded  the  parson, 
surprised  at  his  own  austerity. 


TWO    PUZZLES  315 

"  A  brace  of  cock-pheasants,  a  couple  of  woodcocks, 
two  couple  of  rabbits  and  a  leash  of  hares !  Oh,  Sam, 
Sam  !  What  have  you  done  ?  Speccotty,  I  am  ashamed 
of  you." 

"Bain't  no  oother  chap  within  ten  maile,"  said  Spec- 
cotty, regarding  the  subject  from  a  different  point  of  view, 
"  as  could  a'  dooed  that  since  dree  o'clock  this  marnin' — • 
now,  passon,  do  'e  know  of  wan  ?" 

"  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  do  not ;  neither  do  I  wish  for 
his  acquaintance.  Give  up  your  gun,  Sam.  Even  if  I  let 
you  off,  I  insist  upon  your  tools,  as  well  as  all  your 
plunder." 

"  Ha'n't  a  got  no  goon,"  replied  the  poacher,  looking 
slyly  at  the  parson  through  the  rough  shock  of  his  hair. 
"  Never  vired  a  goon,  for  none  on  'un.  Knows  how  to 
vang  'un  wi'out  thiccy." 

"  I  can  well  believe  that."  Mr.  Penniloe  knew  not  a  little 
of  poachers  from  his  boyish  days,  and  was  not  without 
that  secret  vein  of  sympathy  for  them  which  every  sports- 
man has,  so  long  as  they  elude  and  do  not  defy  the  law. 
"  But  I  must  consider  what  I  shall  do.  Send  all  this  to 
my  house  to-night,  that  I  may  return  it  to  the  proper 
owners.  Unless  you  do  that  you  will  be  locked  up  to- 
morrow." 

"Oh,  passon,  you  might  let  me  have  the  Roberts,  to 
make  a  few  broth  for  my  old  moother." 

"  Not  a  hair  nor  a  feather  shall  you  keep.  Your  mother 
shall  have  some  honest  broth — but  none  of  your  stolen 
rabbits,  Speccotty.  You  take  it  so  lightly  that  I  fear  you 
must  be  punished." 

"  Oh,  don't  'e  give  me  up,  sir.  Oh,  my  poor  head  do 
go  round  so !  Don't  'e  give  me  up,  for  God's  sake,  pas- 
son.  Two  or  dree  things  I  can  tell  'e,  as  'e  'd  give  the 
buttons  off  thy  coat  to  know  on.  Do  'e  mind  when  the 
Devil  wor  seen  on  Hagdon  Hill,  the  day  avore  the  good 
lady  varied  all  down  the  Harseshoe?" 

"  I  do  remember  hearing  some  foolish  story,  Sam,  and 
silly  people  being  frightened  by  some  strange  appearances 
— very  easily  explained,  no  doubt." 

"  You  volk  as  don't  zee  things  can  make  'un  any  colour 
to  your  own  liking.  But  I  tell  'e  Old  Nick  gooed  into  the 


316  PEKLYCEOSS 

body  of  a  girt  wild-cat  up  there ;  and  to  this  zide  of  val- 
ley her  be  toorned  to  a  black  dog.  Zayeth  so  in  the  Bai- 
ble,  don't  'un?" 

"  I  cannot  recall  any  passage,  Sam,  to  that  effect ; 
though  I  am  often  surprised  by  the  knowledge  of  those 
who  use  Holy  Scripture  for  argument  much  more  freely 
than  for  guidance.  And  I  fear  that  is  the  case  with  you." 

"  Whuther  a'  dooed  it,  or  whuther  a'  did  not,  I  be  the 
ekal  of  'un,  that  I  be.  When  her  coom  to  me,  a-gapin' 
and  a-yawnin',  I  up  wi'  billhook  and  I  gie'd  'un  zummat. 
If  'tis  gone  back  to  hell  a'  harth,  a'  wun't  coom  out  again, 
I  reckon,  wi'out  Sam  Speccotty's  mark  on  'un.  'Twill 
zave  'e  a  lot  of  sarmons,  passon.  Her  'ont  want  no  more 
knockin'  on  the  head  this  zide  of  Tester,  to  my  reckon- 
ing. Hor !  passon  be  gone  a'ready  ;  a'  don't  want  to  hear 
of  that.  Taketh  of  his  trade  away.  Ah,  I  could  tell  'un 
zomethin',  if  a'  wadn't  such  a  softie." 

Mr.  Penniloe  had  hastened  on,  and  no  longer  swung  his 
holly-stick — not  through  fear  of  knocking  any  more  skulk- 
ing poachers  on  the  head,  but  from  the  sadness  which  al- 
ways fell  upon  him  at  thought  of  the  dark  and  deadly  blow 
the  Lord  had  been  pleased  to  inflict  on  him. 


CHAPTER   XXX 
FRANKLY     SPEAKING 

SUPPOSING  a  man  to  be  engaged — as  he  often  must  be 
even  now,  when  the  general  boast  of  all  things  is  that 
the}7  have  been  done  by  machinery — in  the  useful  and  in- 
teresting work  of  sinking  a  well  by  his  own  stroke  and 
scoop ;  and  supposing  that,  when  he  is  up  to  his  hips, 
and  has  not  got  a  dry  thread  upon  him,  but  reeks  and 
drips  like  a  sprawling  jelly-fish — at  such  a  time  there 
should  drop  upon  him  half  a  teaspoonf ul  of  water  from  the 
bucket  he  has  been  sending  up — surely  one  might  expect 
that  man  to  accept  with  a  smile  that  little  dribble,  even  if  he 
perceives  it. 

Alas,  he  does  nothing  of  the  kind  !  He  swears  and 
jumps,  as  if  he  were  in  a  shower-bath  of  vitriol,  then  he 
shouts  for  the  ladder,  drags  his  drenched  legs  up,  and  as- 
cends for  the  purpose  of  thrashing  his  mate,  who  has  dared 
to  let  a  drop  slip  down  on  him.  Such  is  the  case  ;  and  no 
rate-payer  who  has  had  -to  delve  for  his  own  water  (after 
being  robbed  by  sewage- works)  will  fail  to  perceive  the 
force  of  it. 

Even  so  (if  it  be  lawful  to  compare  small  things  with 
great),  even  so  it  has  been,  and  must  be  forever,  with  a 
young  man  over  head  and  ears  in  love,  and  digging  in  the 
depths  of  his  own  green  gault.  He  throws  back  his  head, 
and  he  shovels  for  his  life  ;  he  scorns  the  poor  fellows  who 
are  looking  down  upon  him;  and  he  sends  up  bucketfuls 
of  his  own  spooning,  perhaps  in  the  form  of  gravelly  verse. 
The  more  he  gets  water -logged  the  deeper  is  his  glow, 
and  the  bowels  of  the  earth  are  as  gold-beaters'  skin  to  him. 
But  let  anybody  cast  cold  water,  though  it  be  but  a  drop, 
on  his  fervid,  frozen  loins,  and  up  he  comes  with  both  fists 
clinched. 


318  PERLYCEOSS 

These  are  the  truths  that  must  be  cited  in  explanation 
of  the  sad  affair  next  to  be  recorded — the  quarrel  between 
two  almost  equally  fine  fellows — Dr.  Jemmy  Fox,  to  wit, 
and  Master  Frank  Gilham.  These  two  had  naturally  good 
liking  for  each  other.  There  was  nothing  very  marvellous 
about  either  of  them,  although  their  respective  mothers 
perceived  a  heavenful  of  that  quality.  But  they  might  be 
regarded  as  fair  specimens  of  Englishmen — more  wonder- 
ful, perhaps,  than  admirable,  in  the  eyes  of  other  races. 
If  it  were  needful  for  any  one  to  make  choice  between 
them,  that  choice  would  be  governed  more  by  points  of 
liking  than  of  merit.  Both  were  brave,  straightforward, 
stubborn,  sensible,  and  self-respecting  fellows,  a  little 
hat-headed  sometimes,  perhaps,  but  never  consciously  un- 
just. 

It  seemed  a  great  pity  that  such  a  pair  should  fall  away 
from  friendship,  when  there  were  so  many  reasons  for 
good -will  and  amity;  not  to  mention  gratitude  —  that 
flower  of  humanity,  now  extinct,  through  the  number  of 
its  cuttings  that  have  all  damped  off.  Jemmy  Fox,  in- 
deed, had  cherished  a  small  slip  of  that,  when  Gilham 
stood  by  him  in  his  first  distress ;  but  unhappily  the 
slightest  change  of  human  weather  is  inevitably  fatal  to 
that  very  miffy  plant. 

Young  as  he  was,  Frank  Gilham  had  been  to  market 
already  too  many  times  to  look  for  offal  value  in  gratitude ; 
and,  indeed,  he  was  too  generous  to  regard  it  as  his  due ; 
still  his  feelings  of  friendship  and  of  admiration  for  the 
superior  powers  of  the  other  were  a  little  aggrieved  when 
he  found  himself  kept  at  a  distance  and  avoided  for  rea- 
sons which  he  understood  too  well.  So  when  he  heard 
that  young  Dr.  Fox  had  returned  from  that  visit  to  his 
father,  he  rode  up  to  Old  Barn  to  call  upon  him,  and  place 
things  upon  a  plainer  footing. 

Jemmy  received  him  in  a  friendly  manner,  but  with  his 
mind  made  up  to  put  a  stop  to  any  nonsense  concerning 
his  sister  Christie,  if  Gilham  should  be  fool  enough  to  af- 
ford him  any  opening.  And  this  the  young  yeoman  did 
without  delay,  for  he  saw  no  good  reason  why  he  should 
be  made  too  little  of. 

"  And  how  did  you  leave  Miss  Fox  ?"  he  asked,  as  they 


FRANKLY    SPEAKING  319 

took  tlieir  chairs  opposite  the  great  fireplace  in  the  bare 
room,  scientific  with  a  skull  or  two,  and  artistic  with  a  few 
of  Christie's  water-colour  sketches. 

"  I  had  no  difficulty  in  leaving  her,"  Jemmy  answered, 
with  a  very  poor  attempt  at  wit,  which  he  intended  to  be 
exasperating. 

"  How  was  she,  I  mean  ?  I  dare  say  you  got  away 
without  thinking  much  of  anybody  but  yourself."  Frank 
Gilham  was  irritated,  as  he  deserved  to  be. 

"  Thank  you ;  well,  I  think  upon  the  whole  " — Jemmy 
Fox  drawled  out  his  words  as  if  his  chin  were  too  slack  to 
keep  them  going,  and  he  stroked  it  in  a  manner  which  is  al- 
ways hateful;  "yes,  I  think  I  may  say  upon  the  whole  that 
she  was  quite  as  well  as  can  be  expected.  I  hope  you  can 
say  the  same  of  your  dear  mother." 

Frank  Gilham  knew  that  he  was  challenged  to  the  com- 
bat ;  and  he  came  forth,  as  the  duty  is,  and  the  habit  of  an 
Englishman. 

"  This  is  not  the  first  time  you  have  been  rude  to  me," 
he  said,  "and  I  won't  pretend  not  to  know  the  reason. 
You  think  that  I  have  been  guilty  of  some  presumption  in 
daring  to  lift  my  eyes  to  your  sister." 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,"  replied  Fox,  getting  up,  and 
meeting  his  steadfast  gaze  steadfastly, "  you  have  expressed 
my  opinion  better  than  I  could  myself  have  put  it." 

"  It  is  not  the  sort  of  thing  one  can  argue  about,"  said 
the  other,  also  rising ;  "  I  know  very  well  that  she  is  too 
good  for  me,  and  has  the  right  to  look  ever  so  much  high- 
er. But  for  all  that,  I  have  a  perfect  right  to  set  my  heart 
upon  her;  especially,  considering — considering  that  I  can't 
help  it.  And  if  I  do  nothing  to  annoy  her,  or  even  to  let 
her  know  of  my  presumption,  what  right  have  you  to  make 
a  grievance  of  it." 

"  I  have  never  made  a  grievance  of  it.  I  simply  wish 
you  to  understand  that  I  do  not  approve  of  it." 

"  You  have  a  perfect  right  to  disapprove,  and  to  let  me 
know  that  you  do  so.  Only  it  would  have  been  more  to 
your  credit  if  you  had  done  it  in  an  open  manner,  and  in 
plain  English,  instead  of  cutting  me,  or,  at  any  rate,  drop- 
ping my  acquaintance.  I  don't  call  that  straightforward." 

"  The  man  is  a  jackass.     What  rot  he  talks  !     Look 


320  PERLYCKOSS 

here,  ray  fine  fellow,  how  could  I  speak  to  you  about  it 
before  you  acknowledged  your  infatuation  ?  Could  I  come 
up  to  you  in  the  street,  and  say — l  Hi,  there !  You  are 
in  love  with  my  sister,  are  you?  If  you  want  to  keep  a 
sound  skin,  you'll  haul  off.'  Is  that  the  straightforward 
course  I  should  have  taken  ?" 

"  Well,  there  may  be  something  in  the  way  you  put  it. 
But  I  would  leave  it  to  anybody  whether  you  have  acted 
fairly.  And  why  should  I  haul  off,  I  should  like  to  know. 
I  won't  haul  off  for  fifty  of  you.  Because  I  have  got  no 
money,  I  suppose  !  How  would  you  like  to  be  ordered  to 
haul  off  from  Miss  Waldron,  in  case  you  were  to  lose  your 
money,  or  anything  went  against  you  ?  Instead  of  haul- 
ing off,  I'll  hold  on — in  my  own  mind,  at  any  rate.  I 
don't  want  a  farthing  of  the  money  of  your  family.  I 
would  rather  not  have  it — dirty  stuff,  what  good  is  it? 
But  I  tell  you  what — if  your  dear  sister  would  only  give 
me  one  good  word,  I  would  snap  my  fingers  at  you  and 
everybody.  I  know  I  am  nothing  at  all.  However,  I  am 
quite  as  good  as  you  are,  though  not  to  be  spoken  of  in 
the  same  week  with  her.  I  tell  you,  I  don't  care  twopence 
for  any  man,  or  all  the  men  in  the  world  put  together — 
if  only  your  sister  thinks  well  of  me.  So  now  you  know 
what  you  may  look  out  for." 

"  All  this  is  very  fine  ;  but  it  won't  do,  Gilham."  Fox 
thought  he  saw  his  way  to  settle  him.  "  Surely  you  are 
old  enough  to  see  the  folly  of  getting  so  excited.  My  sis- 
ter will  very  soon  be  married  to  Sir  Henry  Haggerstone, 
a  man  of  influence  and  large  fortune ;  and  you — well,  to 
some  lady  who  can  see  your  value  through  a  ball  of  glass, 
as  you  do.  That  power  is  not  given  to  all  of  us,  but  on 
no  account  would  I  disparage  you ;  and  when  this  little 
joke  is  over  you  will  come  and  beg  my  pardon,  and  we 
shall  be  hearty  friends  again." 

"  Sir  Henry  Haggerstone !"  Gilham  replied,  in  a  tone  of 
contempt  which  would  justly  have  astonished  that  exem- 
plary baronet.  "  Not  she  !  Why,  that's  the  old  codger 
that  has  had  three  wives  !  Fiddles  and  fiddlesticks  !  I'm 
not  afraid  of  him.  But  just  tell  me  one  thing,  now,  upon 
your  honour :  would  you  object  to  me,  if  she  liked  me, 
and  I  had  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  ?" 


FRANKLY    SPEAKING  321 

"  Well,  no;  I  don't  know  that  I  should,  Mr.  Gilham." 

"  Then,  Dr.  Fox,  you  would  sell  your  sister  for  a  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds.  And  if  she  likes  to  put  a  lower 
price  upon  herself,  what  right  have  you  to  stop  her  ?" 

11 1  tell  you,  Gil  ham,  all  this  is  childish  talk.  If  Christie 
has  been  fool  enough  to  take  a  fancy  to  you,  it  is  your 
place,  as  a  man  of  honour,  to  bear  in  mind  how  young  she 
is,  and  to  be  very  careful  that  you  do  nothing  to  encour- 
age it." 

"But  there  is  no  chance  of  such  luck.  Has  it  ever 
seemed  likely  to  you,  my  dear  Jemmy,  that  she — that  she 
even  had  any  idea — " 

"  A  great  deal  too  much,  I  am  afraid.  At  least,  I  don't 
mean  to  say  that  exactly ;  but  at  any  rate — well,  enough 
to  place  you  on  your  honour." 

"  And  upon  my  honour  I  will  be — not  to  neglect  any 
shadow  of  a  chance  that  turns  up  in  my  favour.  But  I 
can  never  believe  it,  Jemmy ;  she  is  ever  so  much  too  lofty 
and  too  lovely  and  too  clever ;  did  anybody  ever  see  such 
fingers  and  such  eyes  and  such  a  smile  and  such  a  voice  ? 
And  altogether — " 

"  Altogether  a  pack  of  rubbish  !  The  sooner  you  order 
your  horse  the  better.  I  can't  have  you  raving  here,  and 
fetching  all  the  parish  up  the  hill." 

"  I  am  a  sensible  man,  Jemmy  Fox.  I  know  a  noble 
thing  when  I  see  it.  You  are  too  small  of  nature  and  too 
selfish  for  such  perception.  But  you  may  abuse  me  to 
your  heart's  content.  You  will  never  get  a  harsh  word  in 
reply,  after  what  you  have  told  me ;  because  there  must 
be  good  in  you,  or  you  would  never  have  such  a  sister.  I 
shall  take  my  own  course  now,  without  the  smallest  con- 
sideration for  your  crotchets.  Now  don't  make  any  mis- 
take about  that.  As  for  honour — clearly  understand  that 
I  shall  pitch  it  to  the  devil." 

"  Well,  don't  come  here  with  any  more  of  your  raving ; 
and  don't  expect  me  to  encourage  you.  You  have  been  a 
good  fellow — I  don't  mind  saying  that  —  until  you  took 
this  infernal  craze." 

"  Oh,  I  won't  trouble  you,  never  you  fear.  You  are  do- 
ing what  you  think  right,  no  doubt ;  and  you  are  welcome 
to  do  your  worst.  Only  there  is  one  thing  I  must  say :  I 
H* 


322  PEELYCEOSS 

know  that  you  are  too  much  of  a  man  to  belie  me  to  your 
sister,  or  run  me  down  behind  my  back.  Shake  hands, 
Jemmy,  before  I  go ;  perhaps  we  shall  never  shake  hands 
again." 

"  Get  somebody  to  leave  you  that  hundred  thousand 
pounds,"  said  Fox,  as  he  complied  with  this  request; 
"  and  then  we'll  shake  hands  all  day  long  instead  of  shak- 
ing fists  at  each  other." 

'"Jem  Crow  said  to  his  first  wife's  mother, 

What  right  have  you  to  be  anybody's  brother  ?' " 

Gilham  responded,  being  in  high  spirits,  with  this  quota- 
tion from  that  piece  of  negro  doggerel  with  which  Eng- 
land was  at  that  time  crazed.  And  thus  they  parted  with 
a  neutral  smile  ;  and  none  the  less,  perhaps,  in  that  each  of 
them  perceived  that  the  parting  would  prove  a  long  one. 

"  What  will  Nicie  have  to  say  about  all  this  ?  I  shall 
not  be  contented  until  I  know,"  said  Fox  to  himself,  when 
his  visitor  was  gone  ;  "I  have  a  great  mind  to  go  and  get 
my  riding- gaiters.  That  blessed  mother  of  hers  can 
scarcely  growl  at  me  if  I  call  to-day,  considering  how 
long  I  have  been  away.  I  seem  to  knock  under  to  every- 
body now  ;  I  can't  think  what  has  come  over  me." 

When  a  man  begins  to  think  that  of  himself  it  shows 
that  he  is  getting  pugnacious,  and  has  not  found  his  proper 
outlet.  The  finest  thing  for  him  is  a  long  ride  then,  or  a 
long  walk  if  he  has  only  two  legs.  Fox  was  shaking  down 
upon  his  merits,  but  still  a  little  crusty  with  himself,  and 
therefore  very  much  so  with  every  one  outside  it,  when 
his  pretty  mare  pulled  up,  to  think  about  the  water  she 
was  bound  to  walk  through  at  Priestwell. 

This  is  one  of  the  fairest  hamlets  to  be  found  in  Eng- 
land. There  are  houses  enough  to  make  one  think  of  the 
other  people  that  live  in  them,  but  not  so  many  as  to 
make  it  certain  that  a  great  many  people  will  be  nasty. 
You  might  expect,  if  you  lived  there,  to  know  something 
about  everybody  in  the  place ;  and  yet  only  to  lift  up  your 
hands  and  smile  when  they  did  a  thing  you  were  too  wise 
to  do.  The  critical  inhabitant  in  such  a  place,  unless  he 
is  very  wicked,  must  be  happy.  He  falls  into  a  habitude 
of  small  smiles;  "many  a  mickle  makes  a  rnuckle"  —  if 


FRANKLY    SPEAKING  323 

that  be  the  right  way  to  quote  it,  which  it  isn't — however, 
the  result  is  all  the  same,  he  knows  what  he  is  about,  and 
it  leads  him  to  smile  twenty  times  for  one  smile  he  would 
have  had  in  town. 

All  these  things  were  producing  a  fine  effect  upon 
the  character  of  Dr.  Gronow.  By  head  and  shoulders, 
without  standing  up  for  himself  for  a  single  moment,  he 
was  the  biggest  man  at  Priestwell ;  in  knowledge  of  the 
world,  in  acquaintance  with  books,  in  power  to  give  good 
advice,  and  to  help  the  people  who  took  it — the  largest. 
And  after  the  many  hot  contentions  of  his  life,  and  the 
trouble  in  being  understood  (where  the  game  never  pays 
for  the  candle),  here  he  was  taken  at  his  own  appraise- 
ment after  liberal  prepayment. 

He  was  not  a  bad  man,  take  him  all  in  all,  though  in- 
clined by  nature  to  be  many -angled  rather  than  many- 
sided.  And  now,  as  he  stood  on  the  plank  that  goes  over 
the  brook  where  the  road  goes  under  it,  he  was  about  as 
happy  as  the  best  of  men  can  be.  The  old  doctor,  in  truth, 
was  as  full  of  delight — though  his  countenance  never  ex- 
pressed it — as  the  young  doctor  was  of  dejection.  And 
why  ?  For  the  very  noble  reason  that  the  wiser  man  now 
had  his  fly-rod  in  hand,  fly-book  in  pocket,  creel  on  back, 
and  waterproof  boots  upon  stiff  but  sturdy  legs.  And, 
main  point  of  all — he  was  just  setting  forth ;  his  return 
might  be  effected,  perhaps,  in  quite  another  pair  of  shoes. 

The  Priestwell  water  flows  into  the  Perle  from  the 
north  some  half-mile  higher  up  than  the  influx  of  Susscot 
brook  from  the  south,  and  it  used  to  be  full  of  bright 
stickles  and  dark  hovers,  peopled  with  many  a  bouncing 
trout.  For  a  trout  of  a  pound  is  a  bouncer  there ;  and  a 
half-pounder  even  is  held  a  comely  fish ;  and,  sooth  to 
say,  the  angler  is  not  so  churlish  as  to  fail  of  finding  joy  in 
one  of  half  that  size.  Not  a  sign  of  spring  was  on  the 
earth  as  yet,  and  very  little  tidings  of  it  in  the  air ;  but 
any  amount  was  in  the  old  man's  heart,  as  he  listened  to 
the  warbling  of  the  brook,  and  said  to  himself  that  he 
should  catch,  perhaps,  a  fish.  He  was  going  to  fish  down- 
ward, as  he  always  did,  for  he  never  liked  to  contradict 
the  water.  At  the  elbow  of  the  stream  was  his  own  wil- 
low-tree, at  the  bottom  of  his  lawn,  and  there  a  big  fish 


324  PERLYCROSS 

lived — the  Dr.  Gronow  of  the  liquid  realm,  who  defied  the 
Dr.  Gronow  of  the  dry  land.  Ha,  why  not  tackle  him  this 
very  afternoon  and  ennoble  the  opening  day  thereby,  for 
the  miserable  floods,  and  the  long  snow -time,  and  the 
shackling  of  the  stream  is  over;  no  water-colour  artist 
could  have  brought  the  stickles  to  a  finer  fishing  tint ;  and 
lo,  there  is  a  trout  upon  the  rise  down  there,  tempted  by 
the  quiver  of  a  real  iron-blue ! 

With  these  thoughts  glowing  in  his  heart,  and  the 
smoke  of  his  pipe  making  rings  upon  the  naked  alder- 
twigs,  he  was  giving  his  flies  the  last  titivating  touch — 
for  he  always  fished  with  three,  though  two  were  one  too 
many — when  he  heard  a  voice  not  too  encouraging. 

"  I  say,  doctor,  if  you  don't  look  out  you'll  be  certain 
to  get  bogged,  you  know." 

"  Don't  care  if  I  do,"  replied  the  doctor,  whisking  his 
flies  around  his  head,  and  startling  Perle  with  the  flash  of 
his  rod. 

"You  had  better  go  home,"  continued  Jemmy,  "and 
let  the  banks  dry  up  a  bit,  and  some  of  your  fish  have 
time  to  breed  again.  Why,  the  floods  must  have  washed 
them  all  down  into  the  Perle,  and  the  Perle  must  have 
washed  them  all  down  into  the  sea." 

"  That  shows  how  much  you  know  about  it.  I  have  got 
a  most  splendid  patent  dodge  at  the  bottom  of  my  last 
meadow.  I'll  show  it  to  you  some  fine  day,  if  you  are 
good.  It  is  so  constructed  that  it  keeps  all  my  trout  from 
going  down  into  the  Perle,  and  yet  it  lets  all  the  Perle 
trout  come  up  to  me,  and  when  they  are  up  they  can't 
get  back  again,  of  course ;  and  the  same  thing  reversed 
at  the  top  of  my  grounds.  I  expect  to  have  more  fish  than 
pebbles  in  my  brook.  And  nobody  can  see  it,  that's  the 
beauty  of  it.  But  mind,  you  mustn't  say  a  word  about  it, 
Jemmy.  People  are  so  selfish  !" 

"  Of  course  I  won't ;  you  may  trust  me.  But  when 
you  have  got  everybody  else's  fish  in  your  water,  can  you 
get  them  out  of  it  ?  I  know  nothing  at  all  about  it.  But 
to  make  any  hand  of  angling,  is  it  not  the  case  that  you 
must  take  to  it  in  early  life  ?  Look  at  Pike,  for  instance, 
what  a  hand  he  is  !  Never  comes  home  without  a  basket- 
ful. He'll  be  here  again  next  week,  I  believe." 


FRANKLY    SPEAKING  325 

Fox  knew  well  enough  that  Dr.  Gronow  hated  the  very 
name  of  Pike. 

"  I  am  truly  sorry  to  hear  it.  I  am  sure  it  must  be  high 
time  for  that  lad  to  go  to  college.  Penniloe  ought  to  be 
sent  to  prison  for  keeping  such  a  poacher.  But,  as  for 
myself,  if  I  caught  too  many  I  should  not  enjoy  it  half  so 
much,  because  I  should  think  there  was  no  skill  in  it." 

"  Well  now,  I  never  thought  of  that.  And  pari  ratione 
if  we  save  too  many  of  our  patients,  we  lay  ourselves  open 
to  the  charge  of  luck." 

"  No  fear  for  you,  Jemmy ;  you  are  not  a  lucky  fellow. 
Come  in  and  have  a  talk  with  me  by-and-by.  I  want  to 
hear  the  last  news,  if  there  is  any." 

"  Yes,  there  is  some ;  but  I  must  tell  you  now  or  never, 
for  I  have  to  ride  round  through  Pumpington.  And  I 
came  this  way  on  purpose  to  get  the  benefit  of  your 
opinion." 

"But,  rny  dear  fellow,  it  gets  dark  so  soon" — Dr.  Gronow 
looked  wistfully  at  his  flies.  "  Well,  if  you  won't  be  more 
than  five  minutes,  I  will  put  an  iron-blue  on  instead  of  a 
half -kingdon.  But  don't  be  longer  than  you  can  help. 
You  are  the  only  man  in  the  parish  I  would  stop  for." 

Omitting  all  description,  except  of  persons,  Fox  told  the 
elder  doctor  what  he  had  learned  at  the  mouth  of  the  Men- 
dip  mines  and  at  the  Smoking  Limekiln,  as  well  as  what 
he  knew  of  Harvey  Tremlett  from  Mr.  Penniloe's  account, 
reminding  him  also  of  Joe  Crang's  description,  and  show- 
ing how  well  it  tallied. 

"  My  advice  can  be  given  in  a  word,  and  that  is — 'Not  a 
word,'  "  answered  Gronow,  forgetting  his  flies  for  the  mo- 
ment. "  Not  a  word  to  any  one  but  Mockham  the  magis- 
trate, and  not  even  to  him  until  needful.  Shrove  Tues- 
day, you  say,  is  the  date  of  the  Fair.  Don't  apply  for 
your  warrant  until  that  morning,  if  you  can  get  it  then 
without  delay.  Only  you  must  make  sure  that  Mockham 
will  be  at  home  to  issue  it,  and  you  must  have  Joe  Crang 
there  quietly,  and  gag  him  somewhere  for  the  rest  of  the 
day — perhaps  a  little  opiate  in  his  beer.  You  see  it  is  of 
the  first  importance  that  not  a  word  should  leak  out  about 
your  intention  of  nabbing  those  fellows  at  the  Fair  until 
you  are  down  upon  them,  for  your  birds  would  never 


326  PERLYCEOSS 

come  near  the  trap.  It  is  perfectly  amazing  how  such 
things  spread,  faster  than  a  bird  can  fly  almost ;  for  the 
whole  world  seems  to  be  in  league  against  the  law.  There 
is  plenty  of  time  for  us  to  talk  it  over  between  this  and 
then,  if  you  only  keep  it  close.  Of  course  you  have  not 
mentioned  it  to  anybody  yet." 

"  Not  to  a  soul.  I  had  sense  enough  for  that.  But  I 
might  have  done  so  before  long,  if  I  had  missed  meeting 
you  to-day.  Shall  I  not  tell  even  Penniloe?  He  has 
known  everything  hitherto." 

"  Certainly  not  yet.  He  is  quite  safe,  of  course,  so  far 
as  mere  intention  goes ;  but  he  might  make  a  slip,  and  he 
is  a  nervous  man.  For  his  own  sake  he  had  better  not 
have  this  upon  his  mind.  And  his  ideas  are  so  queer.  If 
he  were  questioned,  I  feel  sure  that  he  would  not  even  tell 
a  white  lie,  but  be  frightfully  clumsy,  and  say,  '  I  refuse 
to  answer.'  Better  tell  the  whole  truth  than  do  that,  for 
suspicion  is  shrewder  than  certainty." 

"  But  I  don't  like  concealing  it  from  him  at  all.  I  fear 
he  will  be  hurt  when  he  comes  to  know  it ;  because  we 
have  acted  together  throughout,  and  the  matter  so  closely 
concerns  his  parish." 

"  Have  no  fear,  Jemmy ;  I'll  make  that  all  right.  We 
will  tell  him  about  it  on  the  day  of  action,  and  let  him 
know  that  for  his  own  sake  only,  I  persuaded  you  to  keep 
it  from  him.  Why,  that  fellow's  daughter  is  in  his  house, 
and  a  wonderfully  clever  imp,  they  say.  And  I  am  not 
at  all  sure  that  he  would  not  preach  about  it.  He  thinks 
so  much  more  of  people's  souls  than  of  their  parts  that 
are  rational." 

"  Very  well,  then,  for  his  own  sake,  I  won't  say  a  word 
to  him  about  it.  You  are  right ;  it  would  make  him  miser- 
able to  have  such  a  shindy  so  long  in  prospect,  for  it 
will  be  a  rare  fight,  I  can  tell  you.  The  fellow  is  as  big 
as  an  elephant  almost;  and  my  namesake,  Jem  Kettel,  is  a 
stuggy  young  chap,  very  likely  to  prove  a  tough  customer. 
And  then  there  will  be  Timberlegs,  whoever  he  may  be." 

"  All  right,  Jemmy,  we  will  give  a  good  account  of  them. 
Mind  v.  Matter  always  wins  the  verdict.  But  let  me  con- 
gratulate you  upon  your  luck.  We  must  get  to  the  bottom 
of  this  strange  affair  now,  if  we  can  only  nab  those  fellows." 


FRANKLY    SPEAKING  327 

"  I  should  hope  so.  But  how  do  you  think  it  will 
prove  ?  Who  will  be  detected  as  the  leading  villain  ?  For 
these  rogues  have  only  been  hired  of  course." 

"  Well,  I  own  myself  puzzled,  Jemmy,  worse  than  ever. 
Until  this  last  news  of  yours,  I  was  inclined  to  think  that 
there  had  been  some  strange  mistake  all  through,  while 
the  good  colonel  slept  still  undisturbed.  But  now  it  ap- 
pears that  I  must  have  been  wrong.  And  I  hardly  like  to 
tell  you  my  last  idea  because  of  your  peculiar  position." 

"  I  know  what  you  mean,  and  I  thank  you  for  it,"  Fox 
replied,  with  a  rapid  glance.  "  But  to  my  mind  that  seems 
the  very  reason  why  I  should  know  everything." 

"  Well,  if  you  take  it  so,  friend  Jemmy,  as  my  first 
theory  is  now  proved  wrong,  my  second  one  is  that  Lady 
Waldron  knows  more  about  this  matter  than  anybody 
else.  She  has  always  shown  herself  hostile  to  you,  so 
that  my  idea  cannot  shock  you,  as  otherwise  it  might. 
Are  you  angry  with  me  ?" 

"  Not  in  the  least ;  though  I  cannot  believe  it,  thereby 
returning  good  for  evil ;  for  she  was  quick  enough  to  be- 
lieve it — or  feign  to  do  so — about  me.  There  are  things 
that  tend  towards  your  conclusion.  I  am  sorry  to  ac- 
knowledge that  there  are.  And  yet,  until  it  is  positive- 
ly proved,  I  will  not  think  it  possible.  She  is  no  great 
favourite  of  mine,  you  know,  any  more  than  I  am  of  hers. 
Also,  I  am  well  aware  that  women  do  things  a  man  never 
would  believe ;  and  some  women  don't  mind  doing  any- 
thing. But  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  she  is  one  of 
that  sort ;  she  has  too  much  pride  to  be  a  hypocrite." 

"  So  I  should  have  thought.  But  against  facts,  where 
are  you?  Shrove  Tuesday  will  tell  us  a  thing  or  two, 
however.  That  is  a  very  nice  mare  of  yours.  I  know 
nothing  of  horses,  but  judge  them  by  their  eyes ;  though 
their  legs  are  the  proper  study.  Good-bye,  my  boy! 
Perhaps  I  shall  amaze  you  with  a  dish  of  trout  to-morrow. 
They  are  always  in  very  fine  condition  here." 


CHAPTER   XXXI 
A     GREAT     PRIZE 

ONE  of  the  beauties  of  this  world  is,  for  the  many  who 
are  not  too  good  for  it,  that  they  never  can  tell  what  may 
turn  up  next,  and  need  not  overexert  themselves  in  the 
production  of  novelty,  because  somebody  will  be  sure  to 
do  it  for  them.  And  those  especially  who  have  the  honour 
and  pleasure  of  dealing  with  the  gentler  sex  are  certain, 
without  any  effort  of  their  own,  to  encounter  plenty  of 
vicissitude. 

Such  was  the  fortune  of  Dr.  Fox  when  he  called  that 
day  at  Walderscourt.  He  found  his  sweet  Nicie  in  a  sad 
condition,  terribly  depressed  and  anxious,  in  consequence 
of  a  long  interview  with  her  mother,  which  had  been  as 
follows : 

For  the  last  fortnight  or  three  weeks  Lady  Waldron 
had  not  recovered  strength,  but  fallen  away  even  more, 
declining  into  a  peculiar  and  morbid  state.  Sometimes 
gloomy,  downcast,  and  listless,  secluding  herself  and  tak- 
ing very  little  food,  and  no  exercise  whatever;  at  other 
times  bewildered,  excited,  and  restless ;  beginning  a  sen- 
tence and  breaking  it  off,  laughing  about  nothing,  and  then 
morose  with  every  one.  Pretty  Tamar  Haddon  had  a  great 
deal  to  put  up  with,  and  probably  would  not  have  shown 
the  needful  patience,  except  for  handsome  fees  lightly 
earned  by  reports  collected  in  the  village.  But  Sergeant 
Jakes  being  accessible  no  more — for  he  had  cast  off  the 
spell  in  the  abbey  that  Sunday  —  poor  Lady  Waldron's 
anxiety  was  fed  with  tales  of  very  doubtful  authority. 
And  the  strange  point  was  that  she  showed  no  impatience 
at  the  tardiness  of  the  inquiry  now,  but  rather  a  petulant 
displeasure  at  its  long  continuance. 

Now  that  very  morning,  while  Fox  was  on  the  road  to 


A   GREAT    PRIZE  329 

call  upon  his  beloved,  she  was  sent  for  suddenly  by  her 
mother,  and  hastened  with  some  anxiety  to  the  room  which 
the  widow  now  left  so  seldom.  Inez  had  long  been  fa- 
miliar with  the  truth  that  her  mother's  love  for  her  was 
not  too  ardent ;  and  she  often  tried,  but  without  much 
success,  to  believe  that  the  fault  was  on  her  part.  The 
mother  ascribed  it  very  largely  to  some  defect  in  her 
daughter's  constitution.  "  She  has  not  one  drop  of  Span- 
ish blood  in  her.  She  is  all  of  English,  except,  perhaps, 
her  eyes ;  and  the  eyes  do  not  care  to  see  things  of  Spain." 
Thus  she  justified  herself,  unconscious,  perhaps,  that  jeal- 
ousy of  the  father's  love  for  this  pet  child  had  been,  be- 
yond doubt,  the  first  cause  of  her  own  estrangement. 

This  terribly  harassed  and  lonely  woman  (with  no  one 
but  God  to  comfort  her,  and  very  little  sense  of  any  con- 
solation thus)  was  now  forsaken  by  that  support  of  pride 
and  strength  of  passion  which  had  enabled  her  at  first  to 
show  a  resolute  front  to  affliction.  Leaning  back  upon  a 
heavy  couch,  she  was  gazing  without  much  interest  at 
the  noble  ivory  crucifix  which  had  once  so  strongly  affect- 
ed her,  but  now  was  merely  a  work  of  art,  a  subject  for 
admiration  perhaps,  but  not  for  love  or  enthusiasm.  Of 
these  there  was  no  trace  in  her  eyes,  only  apathy,  weari- 
ness, despondence. 

"Lock  the  outer  door.  1  want  no  spies,"  she  said,  in 
a  low  voice  which  alarmed  her  daughter ;  "  now  come  and 
sit  close  to  me  in  this  chair.  I  will  speak  in  my  own 
language.  None  but  you  and  I  understand  it  here  now." 

"  It  is  well,  mother  mine,"  replied  her  daughter,  speak- 
ing also  in  Spanish ;  "  but  I  wish  it  were  equally  well  with 
you." 

"  It  will  never  be  well  with  me  again,  and  the  time  will 
be  long  before  it  can  be  well  with  you.  I  have  doubted 
for  days  about  telling  you,  my  child,  because  I  am  loath 
to  grieve  you.  But  the  silence  upon  this  matter  is  very 
bitter  to  me ;  moreover,  it  is  needful  that  you  should  know, 
in  case  of  my  obtaining  the  blessed  release,  that  you  also 
be  not  triumphed  over.  It  is  of  that  unholy  outrage  I 
must  speak.  Long  has  it  been  a  black  mystery  to  us. 
But  I  understand  it  now — alas,  I  cannot  help  understand- 
ing it !" 


330  PEKLYCROSS 

Inez  trembled  exceedingly;  but  her  mother,  though 
deadly  pale,  was  calm.  Both  face  and  voice  were  under 
stern  control,  and  there  were  no  dramatic  gestures. 

"  Never  admit  him  within  these  doors,  if  I  am  not  here 
to  bar  them.  Never  take  his  hand,  never  listen  to  his 
voice,  never  let  your  eyes  rest  upon  his  face.  Never  give 
him  a  crust,  though  he  starve  in  a  ditch ;  never  let  him  be 
buried  with  holy  rites.  As  he  has  treated  my  dear  hus- 
band, so  shall  God  treat  him  when  he  is  dead.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  I  tell  you.  If  you  loved  your  father,  re- 
member it." 

"  But  who  is  it,  mother  ?  What  man  is  this  who  has 
abandoned  his  soul  to  the  Evil  One  ?  Make  me  sure  of 
his  name,  that  I  may  obey  you." 

"  The  man  who  has  done  it  is  my  own  twin-brother, 
Rodrigo,  Count  de  Varcas — Rodrigo,  the  accursed  one." 

The  Spanish  lady  clasped  her  hands,  and  fell  back 
against  the  wall,  and  dropped  her  eyes,  as  if  the  curse 
were  upon  her  also,  for  being  akin  to  the  miscreant.  Her 
daughter  could  find  no  words,  and  was  in  doubt  of  be- 
lieving her  own  ears. 

"  Yes,  I  know  well  what  I  am  saying,"  Lady  Waldron 
began  again,  with  some  contempt.  "  I  am  strong  enough. 
Offer  me  nothing  to  smell.  Shall  I  never  die  ?  I  ought 
to  have  died  before  I  knew  this,  if  there  were  any  mercy 
in  heaven.  That  my  twin-brother,  my  own  twin-brother, 
the  one  I  have  loved  and  laboured  for,  and  even  insulted 
my  own  good  husband,  because  he  would  not  bow  down 
to  him — not  for  any  glory,  revenge,  or  religion,  but  for 
the  sake  of  grovelling  money — oh,  Inez,  my  child,  that  he 
should  have  done  this !" 

"  But  how  do  you  know  that  he  has  done  it  ?  Has  he 
made  any  confession,  mother?  Surely  it  is  possible  to 
hope  against  it,  unless  he  himself  has  said  so." 

"  He  has  not  himself  said  so.  He  never  does.  To  ac- 
cuse himself  is  no  part  of  his  habits,  but  rather  to  blame 
every  other.  And  such  is  his  manner  that  every  one 
thinks  he  must  be  right,  and  his  enemies  wrong.  But  to 
those  who  have  experience  of  him,  the  question  is  often 
otherwise.  You  remember  that  very — very  faithful  gen- 
tleman, who  came  to  us  about  a  month  ago  ?" 


A    GREAT    PRIZE  331 

"  Mother,  can  you  mean  that  man,  arrogant  but  low,  who 
consumed  all  my  dear  father's  boxes  of  cigars,  and  called 
himself  Seiior  Jose  Quevedo,  and  expected  even  me  to 
salute  him  as  of  kin  ?" 

"  Hush,  my  child !  He  is  your  uncle's  foster-brother, 
and  trusted  by  him  in  everything.  You  know  that  I  have 
in  the  journals  announced  my  desire  to  hear  from  my  be- 
loved brother— beloved,  alas,  too  much,  and  vainly.  I  was 
long  waiting,  I  was  yearning,  having  my  son  in  the  distance, 
and  you  who  went  against  me  in  everything,  to  embrace 
and  be  strengthened  by  my  only  brother.  What  other 
friend  had  I  on  earth  ?  And  in  answer  to  my  anxiety  ar- 
rives that  man,  sedate,  mysterious,  not  to  be  doubted,  but 
regarded  as  a  lofty  cavalier.  I  take  him  in,  I  trust  him,  I 
treat  him  highly,  I  remember  him  as  with  my  brother  al- 
ways in  the  milky  days  of  childhood,  although  but  the 
son  of  a  well-intentioned  peasant.  And  then  I  find  what? 
That  he  has  come  for  money — for  money,  which  has  al- 
ways been  the  bane  of  my  only  and  well-born  brother,  for 
the  very  dismal  reason  that  he  cannot  cling  to  it,  and  yet 
must  have  both  hands  filled  with  it  forever.  Inez,  do  you 
attend  to  me  ?" 

"  Mother,  I  am  doing  so  with  all  my  ears,  and  with  all 
my  heart  as  well  I  heed.  But  these  things  surprise 
me  much,  because  I  have  always  heard  from  you  that 
my  Uncle  Rodrigo  was  so  noble,  so  chivalrous,  so  far 
above  all  Englishmen  by  reason  of  the  grandeur  of  his 
spirit." 

"  And  in  that  style  will  he  comport  himself,  upon  most 
of  life's  occasions,  wherein  money  does  not  act  as  an  im- 
pediment. Of  that  character  is  he  always,  while  having 
more  than  he  can  spend  of  it.  But  let  him  see  the  neces- 
sity, and  the  compulsion  to  deny  himself,  too  near  to  him 
approaching,  and  he  will  not  possess  that  loftiness  of 
spirit,  and  benevolence  universal.  Departing  from  his 
larger  condition  of  mind,  he  will  do  things  which  honour 
does  not  authorize — things  unworthy  of  the  mighty  Bar- 
cas,  from  whom  he  is  descended.  But  the  Barcas  have 
often  been  strong  and  wicked ;  which  is  much  better  than 
weak  and  base." 

Her  ladyship  paused,  as  in  contemplation  of  the  ster- 


332  PERLYCEOSS 

ling  nobility  of  her  race,  and  apparently  derived  some 
comfort  from  the  strong  wickedness  of  the  Barcas. 

"  Mother,  I  hope  that  it  is  not  so."  Nicie's  view  of  ex- 
cellence was  milder.  "  You  are  strong,  but  never  wicked. 
I  am  not  strong,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  I  trust  that  I  am 
not  weak  and  base." 

"  You  never  can  tell  what  you  can  do.  You  may  be 
most  wicked  of  the  wicked  yet.  Those  English  girls 
that  are  always  good  are  braised  vegetables  without 
pepper.  The  only  one  I  ever  saw  to  approve  was  the  one 
who  was  so  rude  to  me.  How  great  her  indignation  was ! 
She  is  worthy  to  be  of  Andalusia." 

"  But  why  should  so  wicked  a  thing  be  done — so  hor- 
rible even  from  a  stranger?"  The  flashing  of  Nicie's  dark 
eyes  was  not  unworthy  of  Andalusia.  "  How  could  the 
meanest  greed  of  money  be  gratified  by  such  a  deed  ?" 

"  In  this  manner,  if  I  understand  aright :  During  the 
time  of  the  French  invasion,  just  before  our  marriage,  the 
Junta  of  our  city  had  to  bear  a  great  part  of  the  burden 
of  supporting  and  paying  our  brave  troops.  They  fell  into 
great  distress  for  money,  which  became  scarcer  and 
scarcer,  from  the  terrible  war,  and  the  plundering.  All 
lovers  of  their  country  came  with  both  hands  full  of 
treasure ;  and  among  them  my  father  contributed  a  loan 
of  noble  magnitude,  which  has  impaired  for  years  to 
come  the  fortunes  of  our  family.  For  not  a  peseta  will 
ever  be  repaid,  inasmuch  as  there  was  no  security.  When 
all  they  could  thus  obtain  was  spent,  and  the  richest  men 
would  advance  no  more  without  prospect  of  regaining  it, 
the  Junta  (of  which  my  father  was  a  member)  contrived 
that  the  city  should  combine  with  them  in  pledging  its 
revenues,  which  were  large,  to  raise  another  series  of 
loans.  And  to  obtain  these  with  more  speed,  they  ap- 
pealed to  the  spirit  of  gambling,  which  is  in  the  hearts 
of  all  men,  but  in  different  forms  and  manners. 

"  One  loan  that  was  promulgated  thus  amounted  to  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  contributed  in  twenty  shares  of 
five  thousand  dollars  each  ;  and  every  share  was  to  have  a 
life  of  not  less  than  fifteen  years  in  age  appointed  to  rep- 
resent it.  No  money  was  to  be  repaid ;  but  the  interest 
to  accumulate,  until  nineteen  out  of  those  twenty  lives 


A    GREAT    PRIZE  333 

became  extinct,  and  thereupon  the  whole  was  to  go  to  the 
last  survivor,  and  by  that  time  it  would  be  a  very  large 
sum.  I  believe  that  the  scheme  came  from  the  French, 
who  are  wonderfully  clever  in  such  calculations ;  whereas 
finance  is  not  of  us.  Do  you  seem  to  yourself  to  under- 
stand it  ?" 

"  Not  very  much,  but  to  some  extent.  I  have  read  of 
a  wheel  of  life ;  and  this  appears  to  me  to  be  a  kind  of 
wheel  of  death." 

"  So  it  is,  my  child.  You  can  scarcely  be  so  stupid  as 
you  have  been  described  to  me.  I  am  not  too  strong  of 
the  arithmetic  science,  though  in  other  ways  not  wanting. 
You  will  see  that  there  was  a  royal  treasure,  thus  in- 
creasing for  the  one  who  should  deserve  it,  by  having 
more  of  life  than  the  nineteen  others,  and  acquiring  it 
thus  for  the  time  he  had  to  come.  That  kind  of  lottery, 
coming  from  Paris,  was  adopted  by  other  governments, 
under  the  title  of  'Tontine,'  I  think.  My  dear  father,  who 
was  a  warm  patriot,  but  unable  to  contribute  more  with- 
out hope  of  return,  accepted  two  of  those  five-thousand- 
dollar  shares,  and  put  into  one  the  name  of  my  brother, 
and  into  the  other  that  of  my  dear  husband,  then  about  to 
be ;  because  those  two  were  young,  while  himself  was  grow- 
ing old.  Your  father  has  spoken  to  me  of  his  share  several 
times  as  it  became  of  greater  value ;  and  he  provided  for 
it  in  his  will,  supposing  that  he  should  ever  become  the  pos- 
sessor, although  he  approved  not  of  any  kind  of  gambling. 

"  If  you  can  represent  to  yourself  that  scheme,  you  will 
see  that  each  share  was  enlarged  in  prospect  as  the  others 
failed  of  theirs  by  death;  and  of  the  twenty  lives  ap- 
pointed the  greater  part  vanished  rapidly — many  by  war, 
and  some  by  duels,  and  others  by  accident  and  disease  ; 
until  it  appears,  though  we  knew  it  not,  that  your  father 
and  your  Uncle  Rodrigo  were  the  sole  survivors.  Your 
father  and  I  kept  no  watch  upon  it,  being  at  such  a 
distance  ;  but  now  I  have  learned  that  your  uncle  has 
been  exceedingly  acute  and  vigilant,  having  no  regard  for 
your  dear  father,  and  small  affection,  I  fear,  for  me ;  but  a 
most  passionate  devotion  to  the  huge  treasure  now  accu- 
mulated upon  heavy  interest,  and  secured  by  the  tolls  of 
the  city. 


334  PEKLYCROSS 

"  I  arn  grieved  by  discovering  from  this  man  Quevedo 
that  your  uncle  has  been  watching  very  keenly  everything 
that  has  happened  here ;  he  has  employed  an  agent,  whose 
name  I  could  not  by  any  means  extort  from  Quevedo,  and 
not  contented  with  his  reports,  but  excited  by  the  tidings 
of  your  father's  ill-health,  he  has  even  been  present  in 
these  parts  himself,  to  reconnoitre  for  himself ;  for  he  is 
capable  of  speaking  English  even  better  than  I  do.  Que- 
vedo is  very  cautious ;  but  by  plying  him  with  Spanish 
wine,  such  as  he  cannot  procure  in  Spain,  feigning  also  to 
be  on  his  side,  I  extorted  from  him  more  than  he  wished 
to  part  with.  No  suspicion  had  I,  while  he  was  here,  that 
his  master  was  guilty  of  the  black  disgrace  thus  inflicted 
upon  us  ;  or  can  you  imagine  that  I  would  allow  that  man 
to  remain  in  the  house  of  the  outraged  one  ?  And  Que- 
vedo himself  either  feigns,  or  possesses,  total  ignorance  of 
this  vile  deed." 

"  But,  mother  dear,  how  did  this  suspicion  grow  upon 
you  ?  And  for  what  purpose,  if  I  may  inquire,  was  that 
man  Quevedo  sent  to  you  ?" 

"  He  was  sent  with  two  objects :  to  obtain  my  signa- 
ture to  an  attested  declaration  as  to  the  date  of  your 
father's  death ;  and  in  the  second  place  to  borrow  money 
for  the  support  of  your  uncle's  claim.  It  could  not  be  ex- 
pected that  the  city  would  discharge  so  vast  a  sum  (more 
than  five  hundred  thousand  crowns  they  say)  without  in- 
terposing every  possible  obstacle  and  delay ;  and  our  fam- 
ily, through  your  uncle's  conduct,  has  lost  all  the  influence 
it  possessed  when  I  was  young.  I  am  pleased  to  think 
now  that  he  must  be  disappointed  with  the  very  small  sum 
which  I  advanced,  in  my  deep  disgust  at  discovering  that 
at  the  very  time  when  I  was  sighing  and  languishing  for 
his  support  he  was  at  my  very  doors,  but  through  his  own 
selfish  malignity  avoided  his  twin-sister.  Quevedo  meant 
not  to  have  told  me  that.  But  alas  !  I  extorted  it  from 
him,  after  a  slip  of  his  faithful  tongue.  For  you  know,  I 
believe,  that  your  father  and  uncle  were  never  very  friend- 
ly. My  brother  liked  not  that  I  should  wed  an  English- 
man ;  all  men  of  this  nation  he  regarded  with  contempt, 
boasting  as  they  did  in  our  country,  where  we  permitted 
them  to  come  and  fight.  But  you  have  never  been  told, 


A    GEE  AT    PKIZE  335 

my  child,  that  the  scar  upon  your  dear  father's  face 
was  inflicted  by  your  uncle's  sword,  employed  (as  I 
am  ashamed  to  confess)  in  an  unfair  combat.  Upon 
recovering  from  the  stealthy  blow,  your  father  in  his 
great  strength  could  have  crushed  him  to  death,  for  he 
was  then  a  stripling ;  but  for  my  sake  he  forbore.  It 
has  been  concealed  from  you.  There  is  no  concealment 
now." 

"Oh,  mother,  how  savage  and  ignominious  also!  I 
wonder  that  you  ever  could  desire  to  behold  such  a  man 
again  ;  and  that  you  could  find  it  in  your  heart  to  receive 
his  envoy  kindly." 

"Many  years  have  passed  since  then,  my  child.  And 
we  have  a  saying,  *  To  a  fellow-countryman  forgive  much, 
and  to  a  brother  everything.'  Your  father  had  forgiven 
him  before  the  wound  was  healed.  Much  more  slowly 
did  I  forgive.  And,  but  for  this  matter,  never  would  I 
have  spoken." 

"  Oh,  mother  dear,  you  have  had  much  sorrow  !  I  have 
never  considered  it  as  I  should  have  done.  A  child  is 
like  an  egg,  as  you  say  in  Spain,  that  demands  all  the 
warmth  for  itself,  and  yields  none.  Yet  am  I  surprised 
that,  knowing  so  much  of  him,  you  still  desired  his  pres- 
ence, and  listened  to  the  deceits  of  his  messenger.  But 
you  have  wisdom,  and  I  have  none.  Tell  me,  then,  what 
he  had  to  gain  by  an  outrage  hateful  to  a  human  being, 
and  impossible  to  a  Christian." 

"  It  is  not  clear,  my  child,  to  put  it  to  your  comprehen- 
sion. The  things  that  are  of  great  power  with  us  are  not 
in  this  country  so  copious.  We  are  loftier.  We  are 
more  friendly  with  the  Great  Powers  that  reside  above. 
In  every  great  enterprise  we  feel  what  would  be  their  own 
sentiments,  though  not  to  be  explained  by  heretical  logic. 
Your  uncle  has  never  been  devoted  to  the  Church,  and  has 
profited  little  by  her  teaching;  but  he  is  not  estranged 
from  her  so  much  that  he  need  in  honour  hesitate  to  have 
use  and  advantage  from  her  charitable  breast.  For  she 
loves  every  one,  even  those  who  mock  her  with  feeble  im- 
itation of  her  calls." 

"  Mother,  but  hitherto  you  have  cared  little  or  nothing 
for  Holy  Church.  You  have  allowed  me  to  wander  from 


336  PEKLYCBOSS 

her,  and  my  mind  is  the  stronger  for  the  exercise.  Why, 
then,  this  new  zeal  and  devotion  ?" 

"  Inez,  the  reason  is  very  simple,  although  you  may  not 
understand  it  yet.  We  love  the  institutions  that  make 
much  of  us,  even  when  we  are  dead,  and  comfort  our  bodies 
with  ceremonies,  and  the  weepers  with  reasons  for  smil- 
ing. This  heretic  corporation  to  which  Mr.  Penniloe  be- 
longs has  many  good  things  imitated  from  us,  but  does 
not  understand  itself.  Therefore,  it  is  not  a  power  in  the 
land  to  govern  the  law,  or  to  guide  great  actions  of  prop- 
erty and  of  behaviour,  as  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  can 
do  in  the  lands  where  she  has  not  been  deposed.  Knowing 
how  such  things  are  with  us,  your  uncle  (as  I  am  impelled 
to  believe),  having  plenty  of  time  for  preparation,  had  ar- 
ranged to  make  one  master-stroke  towards  this  great  ob- 
ject of  his  life.  '  At  once  to  bring  all  the  ecclesiastics  to 
his  side  with  fervour,  and  before  the  multitude  to  prove 
his  claim  in  a  manner  the  most  dramatic. 

"  Behold  it  thus,  as  upon  a  stage !  The  whole  city  is 
agitated  with  the  news,  and  the  immensity  of  his  claim. 
The  young  men  say  that  it  is  just  to  pay  it,  if  it  can  be 
proved,  for  the  honour  of  the  city.  But  the  old  men 
shake  their  heads,  and  ask  where  is  the  money  to  come 
from;  what  new  tolls' can  be  imposed;  and  who  can  be- 
lieve a  thing  that  must  be  proved  by  the  oaths  of  foreign 
heretics  ? 

"  Lo,  there  appears  the  commanding  figure  of  the  Count 
de  Varcas  before  the  great  cathedral  doors ;  behind  him 
a  train  of  sailors  bear  the  body  of  the  great  British  war- 
rior, well  known  among  the  elder  citizens  by  his  lofty 
stature  and  many  wounds,  renowned  among  the  younger 
as  a  mighty  hero.  The  bishop,  archbishop,  and  all  pow- 
ers of  the  Church  (being  dealt  with  privately  beforehand) 
are  moved  to  tears  by  this  act  of  grace,  this  manifest  con- 
version of  a  noble  Briton,  claiming  the  sacred  rites  of 
'  Campo  Santo,'  and  not  likely  to  enjoy  them  without  much 
munificence  when  that  most  righteous  claim  upon  the 
seculars  is  paid.  Dares  any  one  to  doubt  identity  ?  Be- 
hold, upon  the  finger  of  the  departed  one  is  the  very  ring 
with  which  the  city's  benefactor  sealed  his  portion  of  the 
covenant,  and  which  he  presented  to  his  son-in-law  as 


A    GREAT   PEIZE  337 

a  holy  relic  of  his  ancient  family,  upon  betrothal  to  his 
daughter ! 

"  Thereupon  arises  the  universal  cry,  *  Redeem  the  hon- 
our of  the  city.'  A  few  formalities  still  remain ;  one  of 
which  is  satisfied  by  the  arrival  of  Quevedo  with  my  dep- 
osition. The  noble  count,  the  descendant  of  the  Barcas, 
rides  in  a  chariot  extolled  by  all,  and  scatters  a  few  pesetas 
of  his  half  a  million  dollars.  It  was  gained  by  lottery,  it 
goes  by  gambling ;  in  six  months  he  is  penniless  again. 
He  has  robbed  his  brother's  grave  in  vain.  For  another 
hundred  dollars  he  would  rob  his  twin-sister's." 

"  Oh,  mother,  it  is  horrible !  Too  horrible  to  be  true. 
And  yet  how  it  clears  up  everything !  And  even  so,  how 
much  better  it  is  than  what  we  supposed  and  shuddered 
at !  But  have  you  any  evidence  beyond  suspicion  ?  If 
it  is  not  unbecoming,  I  would  venture  to  remind  you  that 
you  have  already  in  your  mind  condemned  another  whose 
innocence  is  now  established." 

"  Nay,  not  established,  except  to  minds  that  are,  like 
mine,  full  of  charity.  It  is  not  impossible  that  he  may 
have  joined  my  brother — oh  that  I  should  call  him  so ! 
— in  this  abominable  enterprise.  I  say  it  not  to  vex  you 
in  your  lofty  faith.  But  it  would  have  made  that  enter- 
prise far  easier  to  arrange.  And  if  a  noble  Spaniard  can 
stoop  thus,  why  should  not  a  common  Englishman  ?" 

"  Because  he  is  a  gentleman,"  cried  Nicie,  rising  with  a 
flash  of  indignation,  "  which  a  nobleman  sometimes  is  not. 
And  since  you  have  spoken  thus,  I  doubt  the  truth  of 
your  other  accusation.  But  that  can  very  soon  be  put  to 
the  test,  by  making  inquiry  on  the  spot.  If  what  you 
suppose  has  happened  at  all,  it  must  be  of  public  knowl- 
edge there.  Have  you  sent  any  one  to  inquire  about  it  ?" 

"  Not  yet.  I  have  not  long  seen  things  clearly.  Only 
since  that  Quevedo  left  it  has  come  upon  me  by  reason- 
ing. Neither  do  I  know  of  any  trusty  person.  It  must 
be  one  faithful  to  the  family,  and  careful  of  its  reputation, 
for  the  disgrace  shall  never  be  known  in  this  cold  Eng- 
land. Remember,  therefore,  I  say,  that  you  speak  no  word, 
not  even  to  Mr.  Penniloe  or  Dr.  Fox,  of  this  conclusion 
forced  upon  me.  If  in  justice  to  others  we  are  compelled 
to  avow  that  the  deed  was  of  the  family,  we  must  declare 
15 


338  PERLYCROSS 

that  it  was  of  piety  and  high  religious  feeling,  and  strictly 
conceal  that  it  was  of  sordid  lucre." 

"  But,  mother,  they  may  in  the  course  of  their  own  in- 
quiries discover  how  it  was  at  last.  The  last  things  ascer- 
tained tend  that  way.  And  if  they  should  find  any  trace 
of  ship—" 

"  I  have  given  orders  to  drop  all  further  searches.  And 
you  must  use  your  influence  with — with  all  you  have  any 
sway  upon,  that  nothing  more  shall  be  done  at  present. 
Of  course  you  will  not  supply  the  reason,  but  say  that  it 
has  been  so  arranged.  Now  go,  my  child;  I  have  talked 
too  long.  My  strength  is  not  as  it  was,  and  I  dwell  most 
heavily  on  the  better  days.  But  one  thing  I  would  enjoin 
upon  you :  until  I  speak  again  of  that  which  I  have  seen 
in  my  own  mind,  to  its  distress  and  misery,  ask  me  no 
more  about  it,  neither  in  any  way  refer  to  it.  The  Lord 
— who  is  not  of  this  Church  or  that,  but  looks  down  upon 
us  from  the  crucifix — He  can  pity  and  protect  us.  But 
you  will  be  glad  that  1  have  told  you  this,  because  it  will 
devour  me  the  less." 


CHAPTER   XXXII 
PLEADINGS 

"  AND  it  will  devour  me  the  more.  My  mother  cannot 
love  me,"  the  poor  girl  was  obliged  to  think,  as  she  sat 
in  her  lonely  room  again.  "  She  has  laid  this  heavy  bur- 
den on  me ;  and  I  am  to  share  it  with  no  one.  Does 
she  suppose  that  I  feel  nothing,  and  am  wholly  absorbed 
in  love  proceedings,  forgetting  all  duty  to  my  father  ? 
Sometimes  I  doubt  almost  whether  Jemmy  Fox  is  worthy 
of  my  affection.  I  am  not  very  precious.  I  know  that— - 
the  lesson  is  often  impressed  upon  me — but  I  know  that 
I  am  simple  and  loving  and  true ;  and  he  takes  me  too 
much  for  granted.  If  he  were  noble,  and  could  love  with 
all  his  heart,  would  he  be  so  hard  upon  his  sister  for  lik- 
ing a  man  who  is  her  equal  in  everything  but  money  ?  > 
The  next  time  I  see  him  I  will  try  him  about  that.  If  a  ,' 
man  is  noble,  as  I  understand  the  word,  he  will  be  noble 
for  others  as  well  as  for  himself.  Uncle  Penniloe  is  the 
only  real  nobleman  I  know ;  because  to  him  others  are 
equal  to  himself." 

This  was  only  a  passing  mood,  and  not  practical  enough 
to  be  permanent.  However,  it  was  the  prevailing  one, 
when  in  came  Jemmy  Fox  himself.  That  young  doctor 
plumed  himself  upon  his  deep  knowledge  of  the  fairer 
sex  ;  and  yet,  like  the  rest  of  mankind  who  do  so,  he 
showed  little  of  that  knowledge  in  his  dealings  with 
them. 

In  the  midst  of  so  many  doubts  and  fears,  and  with  a 
miserable  sense  of  loneliness,  Miss  Waldron  was  in  "  a 
high-strung  condition  " — as  ladies  themselves  describe  it 
— though  as  gentle  and  affectionate  as  ever.  She  was  gaz- 
ing at  little  pet  Pixie,  and  wondering  in  her  self-abase- 
ment whether  there  is  any  human  love  so  deep,  devoted, 


340  PEELYCEOSS 

and  everlasting  (while  his  little  life  endures)  as  that  of  an 
ordinary  dog.  Pixie,  the  pug-dog  sitting  at  her  feet,  was 
absorbed  in  wistful  watching,  too  sure  that  his  mistress 
was  plunged  in  trouble,  beyond  the  reach  of  his  poor 
mind,  but  not  perhaps  beyond  the  humble  solace  of  such 
a  yearning  heart. 

In  this  interchange  of  tender  feelings  a  still  more  ten- 
der vein  was  touched.  "  Squeak !"  went  Pixie,  with  a 
jump,  and  then  a  long  eloquence  of  yelp  and  howl  proved 
that  he  partook  too  deeply  of  the  woe  he  had  prayed  to 
share.  A  heavy  riding-boot  had  crushed  his  short  but 
sympathetic  tail — the  tail  he  was  so  fond  of  chasing  as  a 
joyful  vision,  but  now  too  mournfully  and  materially  his 


own  i 


Dr.  Fox,  with  a  cheerful  smile,  as  if  he  had  done  some- 
thing meritorious,  gazed  into  Nicie's  sparkling  eyes. 
Perhaps  he  expected  a  lovely  kiss  after  his  long  absence. 

"  Why,  you  don't  seem  to  care  a  bit  for  what  you  have 
done  !"  cried  the  young  girl,  almost  repelling  him.  "  Al- 
low me  to  go  to  my  wounded  little  dear.  Oh,  you  poor 
little  persecuted  pet ;  what  did  they  do  to  you  ?  Was  his 
lovely  taily  broken  ?  Oh,  the  precious  little  martyr,  that 
he  should  have  come  to  this  !  Did  a  monstrous  elephant 
come  and  crush  his  darling  life  out  ?  Give  his  missy  a 
pretty  kiss,  with  the  great  tears  rolling  on  his  cheek." 

"  Well,  I  wish  you'd  make  half  as  much  fuss  about 
me,"  said  Fox,  with  all  the  self-command  that  could  well 
be  expected.  "  You  haven't  even  asked  me  how  I  am !" 

"  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon,  then,1'  she  answered,  looking 
up  at  him,  with  the  little  dog's  nose  cuddled  into  her 
neck,  and  his  short  sobs  puffing  up  the  golden  under- 
growth of  her  darkly-clustering  hair.  "  Yes,  to  be  sure,  1 
should  have  asked  that ;  it  was  very  forgetful  of  me. 
But  his  poor  tail  seems  to  be  a  little  easier  now,  and  the 
vigour  of  your  step  shows  how  well  you  have  come  back 
to  us." 

"  Well,  more  than  welcome,  I  am  afraid.  I  can  always 
make  allowance  for  the  humours  of  young  ladies ;  and  I 
know  how  good  and  sweet  you  are.  But  I  think  you 
might  have  been  glad  to  see  me." 

"  Not  when  you  tread  upon  my  dear  dog's  tail,  and 


PLEADINGS  341 

laugh  ill  my  face  afterwards,  instead  of  being  very  sorry. 
I  should  have  begged  pardon,  if  I  had  been  so  clumsy  as 
to  tread  upon  a  dog  of  yours." 

"  Dogs  are  all  very  well  in  their  way,  but  they  have  no 
right  to  get  into  our  way.  This  poor  little  puggie's  tail 
is  all  right  now.  Shake  hands,  Puggie.  Why,  look !  he 
has  forgiven  me." 

"  That  shows  how  wonderfully  kind  he  is,  and  how  lit- 
tle he  deserves  to  be  trodden  on.  But  I  will  not  say 
another  word  about  that ;  only  you  might  have  been 
sorrier.  Their  consciences  are  so  much  better  than  ours. 
He  is  licking  your  hand,  as  if  he  had  done  the  wrong. 
Your  sister  agreed  with  me  about  their  nobility.  How  is 
darling  Christie  ?" 

"  Everybody  is  a  darling,  except  me,  to-day  !  Christie 
is  well  enough.  She  always  is,  except  when  she  goes  a 
cropper  out  of  a  trap,  and  knocks  young  men's  waistcoat- 
buttons  off." 

"  How  coarsely  you  put  it,  when  you  ought  to  be  most 
thankful  ta  the  gentleman  who  rescued  her,  when  you  left 
her  at  the  mercy  of  a  half-wild  horse !" 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  make  of  you  to  day,  Miss  Wal- 
dron.  Have  I  done  anything  to  offend  you  ?  You  are 
too  just  and  sensible,  and — gentle,  I  should  like  to  say — 
not  to  know  that  you  have  put  an  entirely  wrong  con- 
struction upon  that  little  accident  with  Farrant's  old  screw. 
It  was  Christie's  own  fault,  every  bit  of  it.  She  thought 
herself  a  grand  whip,  and  she  came  to  grief,  as  girls  gen- 
erally do  when  they  are  bumptious." 

"  You  seem  to  have  a  great  contempt  for  girls,  Dr.  Fox. 
What  have  the  poor  things  done  to  offend  you  so  ?" 

"  Somebody  must  have  been  speaking  against  me.  I'd 
give  a  trifle  to  know  who  it  is.  I  have  always  been  ac- 
customed to  reasonable  treatment." 

"  There  now,  his  dear  little  tail  is  better !  Little  Pixie 
loves  me  so.  Little  Pixie  never  tells  somebody  that  she 
is  an  unreasonable  creature.  Little  Pixie  is  too  polite  for 
that." 

"  Well,  I  think  I  had  better  be  off  for  the  day.  I  have 
heard  of  people  getting  out  of  bed  the  wrong  side ;  and 
you  can't  make  it  right  all  the  day,  when  that  has  hap- 


342  PERLYCROSS 

pened.  Miss  Waldron,  I  must  not  go  away  without  say- 
ing that  my  sister  sends  you  her  very  best  love.  I  was  to 
be  sure  to  remember  that." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  Dr.  Fox  !  Your  sister  is  always  so  very 
sweet  and  considerate.  And  I  hope  she  has  also  been 
allowed  to  send  it  where  it  is  due  a  thousand  times  as 
much  as  here." 

"  Where  can  that  be  ?  At  the  rectory,  I  suppose.  .Yes, 
she  has  not  forgotten  Mr.  Penniloe.  She  is  not  at  all 
fickle  in  her  likings." 

"  Now  that  is  a  very  fine  quality  indeed,  as  well  as  a 
very  rare  one.  And  another  she  has,  and  will  not  be 
driven  from  it — and  I  own  that  I  quite  agree  with  her — 
she  does  not  look  down  upon  other  people,  and  think 
that  they  belong  to  another  world,  because  they  are  not 
so  well  off  in  this  one  as  she  is.  A  gentleman  is  a  gentle- 
man, in  her  judgment,  and  is  not  to  be  cast  by,  after  many 
kind  acts,  merely  because  he  is  not  made  of  money." 

"  Ah,  now  I  see  what  all  this  comes  to  !"  exclaimed 
Fox,  smiling  pleasantly.  "  Well,  I  am  quite  open  to  a 
little  reasoning  there,  because  the  whole  thing  is  so  ridic- 
ulous. Now  put  it  to  yourself:  how  would  you  like  to  be 
a  sort  of  son-in-law  to  good  Mother  Gilham's  green  coal- 
scuttle? A  coal-scuttle  should  make  one  grateful,  you 
will  say.  Hear,  hear !  not  at  all  a  bad  pun  that ;  though 
quite  involuntary." 

"  The  bonnet  may  be  behind  the  age,  or  in  front  of  it, 
I  know  not  which,"  said  Nicie,  very  resolute  to  show  no 
smile  ;  "but  a  better  and  sweeter  old  face  never  looked — " 

"A  better  horse  never  looked  out  of  a  bridle.  It  is 
bridle  and  blinkers  and  saddle  all  in  one." 

"  It  is  quite  useless  trying  to  make  me  laugh."  Her 
voice,  however,  belied  her ;  and  Pixie,  watching  her  face, 
began  to  wag  the  wounded  tail  again.  "  Your  sister,  who 
knows  what  bonnets  are,  to  which  you  can  have  no  preten- 
sion, is  well  acquainted  with  the  sterling  value — " 

"  Oh  come,  I  am  sure  it  would  not  fetch  much  now, 
though  it  may  have  cost  two  guineas  or  more  in  the  days 
before  *  my  son  Frank '  was  born." 

"  Really,  Jemmy,  you  are  too  bad,  when  I  want  to  talk 
seriously." 


PLEADINGS  343 

"  So  long  as  I  am  'Jemmy '  once  more,  I  don't  care  how 
bad  I  am." 

"  That  was  a  slip.  But  you  must  listen  to  me.  I  will 
not  be  laughed  off  from  saying  what  I  think.  Do  you 
suppose  that  it  is  a  joking  matter  for  poor  Frank  Gil- 
ham  r 

"  I  don't  care  a  copper  for  his  state  of  mind,  if  Chris 
is  not  fool  enough  to  share  it.  The  stupid  fellow  came 
to  me  this  morning,  and  instead  of  trying  to  smooth  me 
down,  what  does  he  do  but  blow  me  up  sky-high  (  You 
should  have  heard  him.  He  never  swore  at  all,  but  gave 
utterance  to  the  noblest  sentiments — just  because  they 
were  in  his  favour." 

"  Then  I  admire  him  for  it.  It  was  very  manly  of  him. 
Why  were  all  large  ideas  in  his  favour  ?  Just  because  the 
small  ones  are  on  your  side.  I  suppose  you  pretend  to 
care  for  me  ?" 

"  No  pretence  about  it.  All  too  true.  And  this  is 
what  I  get  done  to  me !" 

"  But  how  would  you  like  my  brother  to  come  and  say, 
'I  disapprove  of  Dr.  Fox — I  forbid  you  to  say  another 
word  to  him  ?'  Would  you  recognize  his  fraternal  right 
in  the  matter,  and  go  away  quietly  ?" 

"  Hardly  that.  I  should  leave  it  to  you.  And  if  you 
held  by  me,  I  should  snap  my  fingers  at  him." 

"  Of  course  you  would.  And  so  would  anybody  else  ; 
Frank  Gilham  among  the  number.  And  your  sister — is 
she  to  have  no  voice  because  you  are  a  roaring  lion  ? 
Surely  her  parents,  and  not  her  brother,  should  bar  the 
way,  if  it  must  be  barred.  Just  think  of  yourself,  and 
ask  yourself  how  your  own  law  would  fit  you." 

"  The  cases  are  very  different,  and  you  know  it  as  well  as 
I  do.  Frank  Gilham  is  quite  a  poor  man  ;  and,  although 
he  is  not  a  bad  kind  of  fellow,  his  position  in  the  world 
is  not  the  same  as  ours." 

"  That  may  be  so.  But  if  Christie  loves  him,  and  is 
quite  content  with  his  position  in  the  world,  and  puts  up 
with  the  coal-scuttle — as  you  call  it — and  he  is  a  good 
man  and  true,  and  a  gentleman,  are  they  both  to  be  miser- 
able to  please  you  ?  And  more  than  that — you  don't 
know  Christie.  If  Frank  Gilham  shows  proper  courage, 


344  PEELYCROSS 

and  is  not  afraid  of  mean  imputations,  no  one  will  ask 
your  leave,  I  think." 

"  Well,  I  shall  have  done  my  best ;  and  if  I  cannot  stop 
it,  let  them  rue  the  day.  Her  father  and  mother  will 
never  allow  it ;  and  as  I  am  responsible  for  the  whole  af- 
fair, and  cannot  consult  them  as  things  are  now,  I  am 
bound  to  act  in  their  place,  I  think.  But  never  mind  that. 
One  may  argue  forever,  and  a  girl  in  a  moment  can  turn 
the  tables  on  the  cleverest  man  alive.  Let  us  come  back 
to  our  own  affairs.  I  have  some  news  which  ought  to 
please  you.  By  rare  good-luck  I  have  hit  upon  the  very 
two  men  who  were  employed  upon  that  awful  business.  I 
shall  have  them  soon,  and  then  we  shall  know  all  about 
this  most  mysterious  case.  By  George !  it  shall  go  hard 
indeed  with  the  miscreant  who  plotted  it." 

"  Oh  don't— oh  don't !  What  good  can  it  be  ?"  cried 
Nicie,  trembling  and  stammering.  "  It  will  kill  my  moth- 
er; I  am  sure  it  will.  I  implore  you  not  to  go  on  with 
it." 

"  What !"  exclaimed  Fox  with  amazement.  "  You  to  ask 
me — you,  his  only  daughter,  to  let  it  be  so — to  hush  up  the 
matter — to  submit  to  this  atrocious  wrong?  And  your 
father — it  is  the  last  thing  I  ever  should  have  thought  to 
hear." 

In  shame  and  terror  she  could  not  speak,  but  quailed 
before  his  indignant  gaze,  and  turned  away  from  him 
with  a  deep,  low  sob. 

"  My  darling,  my  innocent  dear,"  he  cried  in  alarm  at 
her  bitter  anguish,  "  give  me  your  hand ;  let  me  look  at 
your  face.  I  know  that  no  power  on  earth  would  make 
you  do  a  thing  that  you  saw  to  be  shameful.  I  beg  your 
pardon  humbly,  if  I  spoke  too  harshly.  You  know  that 
I  would  not  vex  you,  Inez,  and  beyond  any  doubt  you  can 
explain  this  strange — this  inconceivable  thing.  You  are 
sure  to  have  some  good  reason  for  it." 

"  Yes,  you  would  say  so  if  you  knew  all.  But  not  now 
— I  dare  not ;  it  is  too  dreadful.  It  is  not  for  myself.  If 
1  had  my  own  way — but  what  use  ?  I  dare  not  even  tell 
you  that.  For  the  present,  at  least  for  the  present,  do 
nothing.  If  you  care  about  me  at  all,  I  beg  you  not  to 
do  what  would  never  be  forgiven.  And  my  mother  is  in 


PLEADINGS  345 

such  a  miserable  state,  so  delicate,  so  frail  and  helpless  ! 
Do  for  my  sake,  do  show  this  once  that  you  have  some 
affection  for  me." 

Nicie  put  her  soft  hand  on  his  shoulder,  and  pleaded 
her  cause  with  no  more  words,  but  a  gaze  of  such  tender- 
ness and  sweet  faith  that  he  could  not  resist  it.  Es- 
pecially as  he  saw  his  way  to  reassure  her  without  de- 
parting from  the  plan  he  had  resolved  upon. 

"  I  will  do  anything,  my  pretty  dove,"  he  said,  with  a 
noble  surrender,  "to  relieve  your  precious  and  trustful 
heart.  I  will  even  do  this,  if  it  satisfies  you :  I  will  take 
no  steps  for  another  month,  an  entire  month  from  this 
present  time.  I  cannot  promise  more  than  that,  now  can 
I,  for  any  bewitchment  ?  And  in  return  you  must  pledge 
yourself  to  give  your  mother  not  even  a  hint  of  what  I  have 
just  told  you.  It  would  only  make  her  anxious,  which 
would  be  very  bad  for  her  health,  poor  thing  ;  and  she  has 
not  the  faith  in  me  that  you  have.  She  must  not  even 
dream  that  I  have  heard  of  those  two  villains." 

This  was  a  bright  afterthought  of  his;  for  if  Lady 
Waldron  should  know  of  his  discovery,  she  might  con- 
trive to  inform  them  that  he  had  his  eye  upon  them. 

"  Oh,  how  good  you  are  !"  cried  Nicie.  "  I  can  never 
thank  you  enough,  dear  Jemmy ;  and  it  must  appear  so 
cruel  of  me  to  ask  you  to  forego  so  long  the  chance  of 
shaming  those  low  people  who  have  dared  to  belie  you 
so." 

"  What  is  a  month  compared  to  you  ?"  Jemmy  asked, 
with  real  greatness.  "  But  if  you  feel  any  obligation,  you 
know  how  to  reward  me,  dear." 

Nicie  looked  at  him  with  critical  eyes ;  and  then,  as 
if  reckless  of  anything  small,  flung  both  arms  round  his 
neck  and  kissed  him. 

"  Oh,  it  is  so  kind — so  kind  of  him !"  she  declared  to 
herself,  to  excuse  herself ;  while  he  thought  it  was  very 
kind  of  her.  And  she,  being  timid  of  her  own  affection, 
loved  him  all  the  more  for  not  encroaching  on  it. 

Jemmy  rode  away  in  a  happy  frame  of  mind.    He  loved 

that  beautiful  maiden,  and  he  was  assured  of  her  love  for 

him.     He  knew  that  she  was  far  above  him  in  the  gifts  of 

nature  and  the  bloom  that  beautifies  them — the  bloom  that 

15* 


346  PERLYCKOSS 

is  not  of  the  cheeks  alone,  but  of  the  gentle  dew  of  kind- 
ness, and  the  pearl  of  innocence.  Fox  felt  a  little  ashamed 
of  himself  for  a  trifle  of  sharp  practice ;  but  his  reason 
soon  persuaded  him  that  his  conscience  was  too  ticklish ; 
and  that  is  a  thing  to  be  stopped  at  once. 

While  jogging  along  in  this  condition  on  the  road  tow- 
ards Pumpington,  he  fell  in  with  another  horseman  less 
inclined  to  cheerfulness.  This  was  Farmer  Stephen  Hor- 
ner,  a  younger  brother  of  Farmer  John,  a  less  substantial, 
and  therefore,  perhaps,  more  captious  agriculturist.  He 
was  riding  a  very  clever  cob,  and  looked  both  clever  and 
smart  himself  in  his  bottle-green  cutaway  coat,  red  waist- 
coat, white  cord  breeches,  and  hard  brown  hat.  Striking 
into  the  turnpike  road  from  a  grass-track  skirting  the  Bea- 
con Hill,  he  hailed  the  doctor  and  rode  beside  him. 

"  Heard  the  news,  have  'e  ?"  asked  Farmer  Steve,  as  his 
fat  calves  creaked  against  the  saddle-flaps  within  a  few 
inches  of  Jemmy's,  and  their  horses  kept  step  like  a 
dealer's  pair.  "But  there — come  to  think  of  it,  I  be  a 
fool  for  asking,  and  you  always  along  of  passon  so  !" 

"  Only  came  home  yesterday.  Haven't  seen  him  yet," 
the  doctor  answered,  briskly.  "  Haven't  heard  anything 
particular.  Nothing  the  matter  with  him,  I  hope  ?" 

**  Not  him,  sir,  so  much  as  what  he've  taken  up.  Hath 
made  up  his  mind,  so  people  say,  to  abolish  our  old  Fair 
to  Perlycross."  Farmer  Steve  watched  the  doctor's  face. 
He  held  his  own  opinion,  but  he  liked  to  know  the  other's 
first.  Moreover,  he  owed  him  a  little  bill. 

"  But  surely,  he  cannot  do  that,"  said  Fox,  who  cared 
not  a  jot  about  the  Fair,  but  thought  of  his  own  concern 
with  it.  "  Why,  it  was  granted  by  charter,  I  believe,  hun- 
dreds of  years  ago,  when  Perlycross  was  a  much  larger 
place,  and  the  main  road  to  London  passed  through  it,  as 
the  pack-saddle  teams  do  still  sometimes." 

"  So  it  were,  sir — so  it  were.  Many's  the  time  when  I 
were  a  boy,  I  have  read  of  Magner  Charter,  and  the  time 
as  they  starved  the  King  in  the  island,  afore  the  old  yew- 
tree  come  on  our  old  tower.  But  my  brother  John,  he 
reckoneth  as  he  knoweth  everything,  and  he  saith  our 
market-place  belongeth  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  and 
Fair  was  granted  to  Church,  he  saith,  and  so  Church  can 


PLEADINGS  347 

abolish  it.  But  I  can't  see  no  sense  in  that.  Why,  it  be 
outside  of  church  railings  altogether.  Now,  you  are  a 
learned  man,  Dr.  Fox,  and  if  you'll  give  me  your  opin- 
ion, I  can  promise  'e  it  sha'n't  go  no  further." 

"  The  plain  truth  is,"  replied  Jemmy,  knowing  well  that 
if  his  opinion  went  against  the  parson  it  would  be  all  over 
the  parish  by  supper-time,  "  I  have  never  gone  into  the 
subject,  and  I  know  nothing  whatever  about  it.  But  we  all 
know  the  Fair  has  come  down  to  nothing  now.  There 
has  not  been  a  beast  there  for  the  last  three  years,  and 
nothing  but  a  score  of  pigs  and  one  pen  of  sheep  last 
year.  It  has  come  to  be  nothing  but  a  pleasure-fair,  with 
a  little  show  of  wrestling  and  some  single-stick  play,  fol- 
lowed by  a  big  bout  of  drinking.  Still,  I  should  have 
thought  there  would  be  at  least  a  twelvemonth's  notice, 
and  a  public  proclamation." 

"  So  say  I,  sir ;  and  the  very  same  words  I  used  to  my 
brother  John  last  night.  John  Homer  is  getting  a'most 
too  big  with  his  church-warden,  and  his  hundred  pounds 
he  had  better  a'  kept  for  his  family.  Let  'un  find  out  who 
have  robbed  his  own  church-yard  afore  a'  singeth  out  again' 
a  poor  man's  glass  of  ale.  I  don't  hold  with  John  in  all 
things  ;  though  a'  hath  key  pianner  for  's  dafters  and  add- 
eth  field  to  field,  same  as  rich  man  in  the  Bible  laid  up 
treasure  for  his  soul  this  night.  I  tell  you  what,  doctor, 
and  you  may  tell  John  Homer — I  likes  old  things  for 
being  old ;  though  there  may  be  more  bad  than  good  in 
them.  What  harm  if  a  few  chaps  do  get  drunk,  and  the 
quarrelsome  folks  has  their  heads  cracked  ?  They'd  only 
go  and  do  it  somewhere  else,  if  they  was  stopped  of  our 
place.  Passon  be  a  good  man  as  ever  lived,  and  wonner- 
ful  kind  to  the  poor  folk.  But  a'  beginneth  to  have  his 
way  too  much  ;  and  all  along  of  my  brother  John.  To  tell 
you  the  truth,  doctor,  I  couldn't  bear  the  job  about  that 
old  tombstone  to  memory  of  Squire  Jan  Toms,  and  a  fine 
piece  of  poetry  it  were,  too.  Leap-frogged  it  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  times,  when  I  were  a  boy,  I  have  ;  and  so 
has  my  father  and  grandfather  afore  me  ;  and  why  not  my 
sons,  and  my  grandsons,  too,  when  perhaps  my  own  stand- 
eth  'longside  of  'un  ?  I  won't  believe  a  word  of  it  but 
what  thic  old  ancient  stone  were  smashed  up  a'  purpose 


348  PERLYCKOSS 

by  order  of  Passon  Penniloe.  Tell  'e  what,  doctor,  thic 
there  channging  of  every  mortial  thing,  just  for  the  sake  of 
channging,  bain't  the  right  way  for  to  fetch  folks  to  church  ; 
'cordin',  at  least,  to  my  mind.  Why  do  us  go  to  church  ? 
Why,  because  can't  help  it ;  'long  of  wives  and  children, 
when  they  comes,  and  lookin'  out  for  'un,  when  the  chil- 
dren was  ourselves.  Turn  the  bottom  up,  sir,  and  what  be 
that  but  custom,  same  as  one  generation  requireth  from  an- 
other ?  And  to  put  new  patches  on  it,  and  be  proud  of 
them,  is  the  same  thing  as  tinker  did  to  wife's  ham- 
boiler — drawed  the  rivets  out  and  made  'un  leak  worse 
than  ever.  Not  another  shilling  will  they  patchers  get 
from  me." 

Farmer  Steve  sat  down  in  his  saddle,  and  his  red  waist- 
coat settled  down  upon  the  pommel.  His  sturdy  cob  also 
laid  down  his  ears,  and  stubborn  British  sentiment  was  in 
every  line  of  both  of  them. 

"  Well,  I  won't  pretend  to  say  about  the  other  matters," 
said  Fox,  who,  as  an  Englishman,  could  allow  for  obstinacy. 
"  But,  farmer,  I  am  sure  that  you  are  wrong  about  the  tomb- 
stone. Parson  did  not  like  it,  and  no  wonder.  But  he  is 
not  the  man  to  do  things  crookedly.  He  would  have 
moved  it  openly,  or  not  at  all.  It  was  quite  as  much  an 
accident  as  if  your  horse  put  his  foot  upon  a  nut  and 
cracked  it." 

"  Well,  sir — well,  sir,  we  has  our  own  opinions.  Oh,  you 
have  paid  the  pike  for  me?  Thank  'e  doctor.  I'll  pay 
yours  next  time  we  come  this  way  together." 

The  story  of  the  tombstone  was  simply  this :  John 
Toms,  a  rollicking  cavalier  of  ancient  Devonshire  lineage, 
had  lived  and  died  at  Perlycross  nearly  two  centuries 
agone.  His  grave  was  towards  the  great  southern  porch, 
and  there  stood  his  headstone  large  and  bold,  confronting 
the  faithful  at  a  corner  where  two  causeways  met.  Thus 
every  worshipper  who  entered  the  House  of  Prayer  by  its 
main  approach  was  invited  to  reflect  upon  the  fine  quali- 
ties of  this  gentleman,  as  recorded  in  large  letters.  To  a 
devout  mind  this  might  do  no  harm ;  but  all  Perly- 
cross was  not  devout,  and  many  a  light  thought  was  sug- 
gested, or  perhaps  an  untimely  smile  produced,  by  this  too 
sprightly  memorial.  "A  spirited  epitaph  that,  sir,"  was 


PLEADINGS  349 

the  frequent  remark  of  visitors.  "  But  scarcely  conceived 
in  a  proper  spirit,"  was  the  parson's  general  reply. 

The  hideous  western  gallery,  the  parish  revel  called  the 
Fair,  and  this  unseemly  tombstone,  had  been  sore  tribu- 
lations to  the  placid  mind  of  Penniloe ;  and  yet  he  durst 
not  touch  that  stone,  sacred,  not  to  memory  only,  but  to 
vested  rights  and  living  vein  of  local  sentiment.  However, 
the  fates  were  merciful. 

"Very  sad  accident  this  morning,  sir=  I  do  hope  you 
will  try  to  forgive  us,  Mr.  Penniloe,"  said  Robson  Adney, 
the  manager  of  the  works,  one  fine  October  morning — and 
he  said  it  with  a  stealthy  wink  ;  "  seven  of  our  chaps  have 
let  our  biggest  scaffold-pole,  that  red  one  with  a  butt  as  big 
as  a  mile-stone — roll  off  their  clumsy  shoulders,  and  it  has 
smashed  poor  Squire  Toms's  old  tombstone  into  a  thousand 
pieces.  Never  read  a  word  of  it  again,  sir — such  a  sad  loss 
to  the  church-yard  !  But  quite  an  accident,  sir,  you  know — 
purely  a  casual  accident." 

The  curate  looked  at  him,  but  he  "  smiled  none  " — as 
another  tombstone  still  expresses  it ;  and  if  charity  com- 
pelled Mr.  Penniloe  to  believe  him,  gratitude  enforced  an- 
other view ;  for  Adney  well  knew  his  dislike  of  that  stone, 
and  was  always  so  eager  to  please  him. 

But  that  every  one  who  so  desires  may  judge  for  him- 
self whether  Farmer  Steve  was  right  or  Parson  Penniloe, 
here  are  the  well-remembered  lines  that  formed  the  preface 
to  divine  worship  in  the  Parish  of  Perlycross : 

" '  Halloa  !   who  lieth  here  ?' 

1 1,  old  Squire  Jan  Toms.' 
'  What  dost  lack  ?'     '  A  tun  of  beer, 
For  a  tipple  with  them  fantoms.' " 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
THE    SCHOOL-MASTER  ABEOAD 

"  BOYS,  here's  a  noise  !" 

Sergeant  Jakes  strode  up  and  down  the  long  school-room 
on  Friday  morning  flapping  his  empty  sleeve,  and  swing- 
ing that  big  cane  with  the  tuberous  joints  whose  taste 
was  none  too  saccharine.  That  well-known  ejaculation,  so 
expressive  of  stern  astonishment,  had  for  the  moment  its 
due  effect.  Curly  heads  were  jerked  back,  elbows  squared, 
sniggers  were  hushed,  the  munch  of  apples  (which  had 
been  as  of  milching  kine)  stuck  fast,  or  was  shunted  into 
bulging  cheek ;  never  a  boy  seemed  capable  of  dreaming 
that  there  was  any  other  boy  in  the  world  besides  himself. 
Scratch  of  pens,  and  grunts  of  mental  labour,  were  the 
only  sounds  in  this  culmination  of  literature  known  as 
"  copy-exercise."  As  Achilles,  though  reduced  to  a  ghost, 
took  a  longer  stride  at  the  prowess  of  his  son  ;  and  as  deep 
joys,  on  a  similar  occasion,  pervaded  Latona's  silent  breast, 
even  so  High  Jarks  sucked  the  top  of  his  cane,  and  felt 
that  he  had  not  lived  in  vain.  There  are  many  men  still 
hearty — though  it  is  so  long  ago — who  have  led  a  finer 
life  through  that  man's  higher  culture. 

But  presently — such  is  the  nature  of  human  nature  in 
its  crude  probation — the  effect  of  that  noble  remonstrance 
waned.  Silence  (which  is  itself  a  shadow  cast  by  death 
upon  life,  perhaps)  began  to  flicker — as  all  dulness  should 
— with  the  play  of  small  ideas  moving  it.  Little  timid 
whispers,  a  cane's  length  below  the  breath,  and  with  the 
heart  shuffling  out  of  all  participation;  and  then  a  tacit 
grin  that  was  afraid  to  move  the  molars ;  and  then  a  cock 
of  eye  that  was  intended  to  involve  (when  a  bigger  eye 
was  turned  away)  its  mighty  owner ;  and  then  a  clink  of 
marbles  in  a  pocket  down  the  leg;  and  then  a  downright 


THE    SCHOOL-MASTER    ABROAD  351 

joke,  of  such  very  subtle  humour  that  it  stole  along  the 
bench  through  funnelled  hands;  and  then, alas,  a  small  boy 
of  suicidal  levity  sputtered  out  a  laugh,  which  made  wiser 
wigs  stand  up ! 

His  crime  was  only  deepened  by  ending  in  a  sham  cough  ; 
and,  sad  to  say,  the  very  boy  who  had  made  the  fatal  joke 
(instead  of  being  grateful  for  reckless  approbation)  stood 
up  and  pointed  an  unmanly  finger  at  him.  The  sergeant's 
keen  eye  was  upon  them  both  ;  and  a  tremble  ran  along 
the  oak  that  bore  many  tempting  aptitudes  for  the  vindi- 
cation of  ethics.  But  the  sergeant  bode  his  time.  His 
sense  of  justice  was  chivalrous.  Let  the  big  boy  make  an- 
other joke. 

"  Boys,  here's  a  noise  again  !" 

Those  who  have  not  had  the  privilege  of  the  sergeant's 
lofty  discipline  can  never  understand — far  less  convey — 
the  significance  of  his  second  shout.  It  expressed  pro- 
found amazement,  horror  at  our  fallen  state,  incredulity 
of  his  own  ears,  promptitude  to  redress  the  wrong,  and 
yet  a  pathetic  sorrow  at  the  impending  grim  necessity. 
The  boys  knew  well  that  his  second  protest  never  ascend- 
ed to  heaven  in  vain  ;  and  the  owners  of  tender  quarters 
shrunk,  and  made  ready  to  slide  beneath  the  protection 
of  their  bench.  Other  boys,  with  thick  corduroys,  quail- 
ed for  the  moment,  and  closed  their  mouths ;  but  what 
mouth  was  ever  closed  permanently  by  the  opening  of  an- 
other ? 

"  Now  you  shall  have  it,  boys  !"  the  sergeant  thundered, 
as  the  uproar  waxed  beyond  power  of  words.  "  Any  boy 
slipping  out  of  stroke  shall  have  double  cuts  for  coward- 
ice. Stop  the  ends  up.  All  along  both  rows  of  benches ; 
I  am  coming,  I  am  coming !" 

"  Oh,  sir,  please  sir,  'twadn'  me,  sir !  'Twor  all  along 
o'  Bill  Cornish,  sir." 

He  had  got  this  trimmer  by  the  collar,  and  his  cane 
swung  high  in  air,  when  the  door  was  opened  vigor- 
ously, and  a  brilliant  form  appeared.  Brilliant  less  by  its 
own  merits  than  by  brave  embellishment,  as  behooves  a 
youth  ascending  stairs  of  state  from  page  to  footman,  and 
mounting  upward — ever  upward — to  the  vinous  heights  of 
butlerhood.  For  this  was  Bob  Cornish,  Bill's  elder  brother ; 


352  PERLYCROSS 

and  he  smiled  at  the  terrors  of  the  hurtling  cane,  compul- 
sive but  a  year  ago  of  tears. 

With  a  dignity  already  imbibed  from  Binstock,  this 
young  man  took  off  his  hat,  and  employing  a  spare  slate 
as  a  tray,  presented  a  letter  with  a  graceful  bow.  He  was 
none  too  soon,  but  just  in  time.  The  weapon  of  outraged 
law  came  down,  too  lightly  to  dust  a  jacket;  and  the 
smiter,  wonder-smitten,  went  to  a  desk,  and  read  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Lady  Waldron  will  be  much  obliged  if  Sergeant  Jakes 
will  come  immediately  in  the  vehicle  sent  with  the  bearer 
of  this  letter.  Let  no  engagement  forbid  this.  Mr.  Pen- 
niloe  has  kindly  consented  to  it." 

The  roof  resounded  with  shouts  of  joy,  instead  of  heavy 
wailing,  as  the  sergeant  at  once  dismissed  the  school ;  and 
in  half  an  hour  he  entered  the  business-room  at  Walders- 
court,  and  there  found  the  lady  of  the  house,  looking  very 
resolute,  and  accompanied  by  her  daughter. 

"  Soldier  Jakes  will  take  a  chair.  See  that  the  door  is 
closed,  my  child,  and  no  persons  lingering  near  it.  Now, 
Inez,  will  you  say  to  this  brave  soldier  of  your  father's 
regiment  what  we  desire  him  to  undertake,  if  he  will  be 
so  faithful,  for  the  benefit  of  his  colonel's  family ;  also,  for 
the  credit  of  this  English  country." 

This  was  clever  of  my  lady.  She  knew  that  the  veter- 
an's liking  was  not  particularly  active  for  herself,  or  any 
of  the  Spanish  nation  ,  but  that  he  had  transferred  his  love 
and  fealty  of  so  many  years  to  his  officer's  gentle  daugh- 
ter. Any  request  from  Nicie  would  be  almost  as  sacred 
a  command  to  him  as  if  it  had  come  from  her  father. 
He  stood  up,  made  a  low  bow  followed  by  a  military  salute, 
and  gazed  at  the  sweet  face  he  loved  so  well. 

"  It  is  for  my  dear  father's  sake  •  and  I  am  as  sure  as 
he  himself  would  be" — Miss  Waldron  spoke  with  tears  in 
her  eyes,  and  a  sad  smile  on  her  lips  that  would  have 
moved  a  heart  much  harder  than  this  veteran's — "  that  you 
will  not  refuse  to  do  us  a  great,  a  very  great  service,  if 
you  can.  And  we  have  nobody  we  can  trust  like  you,  be- 
cause you  are  so  true  and  brave." 

The  sergeant  rose  again,  and  made  another  bow,  even 
deeper  than  the  former  one ;  but  instead  of  touching  his 


THE    SCHOOL-MASTER    ABROAD  353 

grizzled  locks  he  laid  his  one  hand  on  his  heart ;  and  al- 
though by  no  means  a  gushing  man,  he  found  it  impossible 
to  prevent  a  little  gleam,  like  the  upshot  of  a  well,  quiver- 
ing under  his  ferny  brows. 

"  We  would  not  ask  you,  even  so,"  continued  Nicie,  with 
a  grateful  glance,  "  if  it  were  not  that  you  know  the  place, 
and  perhaps  may  find  some  people  there  still  living  to  re- 
member you.  When  my  father  lay  wounded  at  the  house 
of  my  grandfather,  and  was  in  great  danger  of  his  life, 
you,  being  also  disabled  for  a  time,  were  allowed  at  his 
request  to  remain  with  him  and  help  him.  Will  you  go 
to  that  place  again,  to  do  us  a  service  no  one  else  can 
do?" 

"  To  the  end  of  the  world,  miss,  without  asking  why. 
But  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  all  them  boys !  Whatever 
will  they  do  without  me  2" 

"  We  will  arrange  about  all  that,  with  Mr.  Penniloe's 
consent.  If  that  can  be  managed,  will  you  go  at  once, 
and  at  any  inconvenience  to  yourself  ?" 

"  No  ill  convenience  shall  stop  me,  miss.  If  I  thought 
of  that  twice  I  should  be  a  deserter  afore  the  lines  of  the 
enemy.  To  be  of  the  least  bit  of  use  to  you  is  an  honour 
as  well  as  a  duty  to  me." 

"  I  thought  that  you  would ;  I  was  sure  that  you  would." 
Inez  gave  a  glance  of  triumph  at  her  less  trustful  mother. 
"  And  what  makes  us  hurry  you  so  is  the  chance  that  has 
suddenly  offered  for  your  passage.  We  heard  this  morn- 
ing, by  an  accident  almost,  that  a  ship  is  to  sail  from 
Topsham  to-morrow  bound  direct  for  Cadiz.  Not  a  large 
ship,  but  a  fast-sailing  vessel  —  a  schooner,  I  think  they 
call  it ;  and  the  captain  is  one  of  Binstock's  brothers.  You 
would  get  there  in  half  the  time  it  would  take  to  go  to  Lon- 
don and  wait  about  for  passage,  and  then  come  all  down 
the  Channel.  And  from  Cadiz  you  can  easily  get  on.  You 
know  a  little  Spanish,  don't  you  ?" 

"  Not  reg'lar,  miss.  But  it  will  come  back  again.  I 
picked  up  just  enough  for  this — I  couldn't  understand 
them  much ;  but  I  could  make  them  look'  as  if  they  under- 
standed  me." 

"  That  is  quite  sufficient.  You  will  have  letters  to 
three  or  four  persons  who  are  settled  there,  old  servants 


354  PERLYCROSS 

of  my  grandfather.  We  cannot  tell  which  of  them  may 
be  alive,  but  may  well  hope  that  some  of  them  are  so. 
The  old  house  is  gone,  I  must  tell  you  that.  After  all  the 
troubles  of  the  war,  there  was  not  enough  left  to  keep  it 
up  with." 

"  That  grand  old  house,  miss,  with  the  pillars  and  the 
carrots  and  the  arches,  the  same  as  in  a  picture  \  And 
everybody  welcome ;  and  you  never  knew  if  there  was 
fifty  or  a  hundred  in  it — " 

"  Sergeant,  you  describe  it  well,"  Lady  Waldron  inter- 
rupted. "  There  are  no  such  mansions  in  this  country. 
Alas,  it  is  gone  from  us  forever,  because  we  loved  our 
native  land  too  well !" 

"  Not  only  that,"  said  the  truthful  Inez,  "  but  also  be- 
cause the  young  count,  as  you  would  call  him,  has  wasted 
the  relics  of  his  patrimony.  And  now  I  will  explain  to 
you  the  reasons  for  our  asking  this  great  service  of  you." 

The  veteran  listened  with  close  attention  and  no  small 
astonishment  to  the  young  lady's  clear  account  of  that 
great  public  lottery,  and  the  gorgeous  prize  accruing  on 
the  death  of  Sir  Thomas  Waldron.  This  was  enough  to 
tempt  a  ruined  man  to  desperate  measures ;  and  Jakes  had 
some  knowledge  in  early  days  of  the  young  count's  head- 
strong character.  But  if  it  should  prove  so,  if  he  were 
guilty  of  the  crime  which  had  caused  so  much  distress  and 
such  prolonged  unhappiness,  yet  his  sister  could  not  bear 
that  the  sordid  motive  should  be  disclosed — at  least,  in  this 
part  of  the  world.  For  the  sake  of  others  it  would  be 
needful  to  denounce  the  culprit ;  but  if  the  detection  were 
managed  well,  no  motive  need  be  assigned  at  all.  Let 
every  one  form  his  own  conclusion.  Spanish  papers  and 
Spanish  news  came  very  sparely  to  Devonshire ;  and  the 
English  public  would  be  sure  (in  ignorance  of  that  finan- 
cial scheme  whose  result  supplied  the  temptation)  to 
ascribe  the  assault  upon  Protestant  rites  to  Popish  con- 
tempt and  bigotry. 

"  I  should  tell  the  whole  if  I  had  to  decide  it,"  said 
Nicie,  with  the  candour  and  simplicity  of  youth.  "  If  he 
has  done  it  for  the  sake  of  nasty  money,  let  everybody 
know  what  he  has  done  it  for." 

But  the  sergeant  shook  his  head,  and  quite  agreed  with 


THE    SCHOOL-MASTER    ABROAD  355 

Lady  Waldron.  The  world  was  quite  quick  enough  at 
bad  constructions  without  receiving  them  ready-made. 

"  Leave  busybodies  to  do  their  own  buzzing,"  was  his 
oracular  suggestion.  "  'Tis  a  grand  old  family,  even  on 
your  mother's  side,  miss"  —  Nicie  smiled  a  little  as  her 
mother  stared  at  this  new  comparative  estimate.  "  And 
what  odds  to  our  clodhoppers  what  they  do  ?  A  don 
don't  look  at  things  the  same  as  a  dung-carter,  and  it  takes 
a  man  who  knows  the  world  to  make  allowance  for  him. 
The  count  may  have  done  it,  mind.  I  won't  say  no  until 
such  time  as  I  can  prove  it.  But,  after  all,  'tis  comforting 
to  think  that  it  was  so,  compared  to  what  we  all  was 
afraid  of.  Why,  the  dear  old  colonel  would  be  as  happy 
as  a  king  in  the  place  he  was  so  nigh  going  to  after  the 
battle  of  Barosa,  looking  down  over  the  winding  of  the 
river,  and  the  moon  among  the  orange-trees,  where  he  was 
a-making  love !" 

"  Hush !"  whispered  Nicie,  as  her  mother  turned  away 
with  a  trembling  in  her  throat;  and  the  old  man  saw  that 
the  memory  of  the  brighter  days  had  brought  the  shadows 
also. 

"  Saturday  to-morrow.  Boys  will  do  very  well  till  Mon- 
day " — he  came  out  with  this  abruptly,  to  cover  his  con- 
fusion. "  By  that  time,  please  God,  I  shall  be  in  the 
Bay  of  Biscay.  This  is  what  I'll  do,  miss,  if  it  suits  you 
and  my  lady.  I'll  come  again  to-night  at  nine  o'clock, 
with  my  kit  slung  tidy,  and  not  a  word  to  anybody.  Then 
I  can  have  the  letters,  miss,  and  my  last  orders.  Ship 
sails  at  noon  to-morrow,  name  of  Montilla.  Mail-coach  to 
Exeter  passes  White  Post  a  little  after  half -past  ten  to- 
night. Be  aboard  easily  afore  daylight.  No,  miss,  thank 
you,  I  sha'n't  want  no  money.  Passage  paid  to  and  fro. 
Old  soldier  always  hath  a  shot  in  the  locker." 

"  As  if  we  should  let  you  go  like  that !  You  shall  not 
go  at  all  unless  you  take  this  purse." 

That  evening  he  received  his  last  instructions,  and  the 
next  day  he  sailed  in  the  schooner  Montilla. 

Even  after  the  many  strange  events  which  had  by  this 
time  caused  such  a  whirl  of  giddiness  in  Perly cross  that 
if  there  had  been  a  good  crack  across  the  street  every 
man  and  woman  would  have  fallen  headlong  into  it,  and 


356  PERLYCKOSS 

even  before  there  had  been  leisure  for  people  to  try  to  tell 
them  anyhow  to  one  another — much  less  discuss  them  at 
all  as  they  deserved  —  this  sudden  break-up  of  the  school 
and  disappearance  of  High  Jarks  would  have  been  absolute- 
ly beyond  belief  if  there  had  not  been  scores  of  boys  too 
loudly  in  evidence  everywhere.  But  when  a  chap  about 
four  feet  high  came  scudding  in  at  any  door  that  was 
open,  and  kicking  at  it  if  it  dared  to  be  shut,  and  then  went 
trying  every  cupboard-lock,  and  making  sad  eyes  at  his 
mother  if  the  key  was  out ;  and  then  again,  when  he  was 
stuffed  to  his  buttons — which  he  would  be,  as  sure  as  eggs 
are  eggs — if  the  street  went  howling  with  his  playful  ways, 
and  every  corner  was  in  a  jerk  with  him,  and  no  elderly 
lady  could  go  along  without  her  umbrella  in  front  of  her 
— how  was  it  possible  for  any  mother  not  to  feel  herself 
guilty  of  more  harm  than  good  ? 

In  a  word,  "  High  Jarks "  was  justified  (as  all  wisdom 
is)  of  his  children*,  and  the  weak-minded  women  who 
had  complained  that  he  smote  too  hard  were  the  first  to 
find  fault  with  the  feeble  measures  of  his  substitute,  Vick- 
ary  Toogood,  of  Honiton.  This  gentleman  came  into  of- 
fice on  Monday,  smiling  in  a  very  superior  manner  at  his 
predecessor's  arrangements. 

"  I  think  we  may  lock  up  that,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the 
sergeant's  little  tickler ;  "  we  must  be  unworthy  of  our 
vocation  if  we  cannot  dispense  with  such  primitive  tools." 
A  burst  of  applause  thrilled  every  bench;  but  knowing 
the  boys  of  his  parish  so  well,  Mr.  Penniloe  shook  his 
head  with  dubious  delight. 

And  truly,  before  the  week  was  out,  many  a  time  would 
he  murmur  sadly,  "  Oh  for  one  hour  of  the  sergeant !"  as 
he  heard  the  babel  of  tongues  outside,  and,  entering,  saw 
the  sprawling  elbows,  slouching  shoulders,  and  hands  in 
pockets,  which  the  "Apostle  of  moral  force"  —  moral 
farce  was  its  sound  and  meaning  here — permitted  as  the 
attitude  of  pupilage. 

"  Sim'th  I  be  quite  out  in  my  reckoning,"  old  Channing 
the  clerk  had  the  cheek  to  say,  as  he  met  the  parson  out- 
side the  school-door ;  "  didn't  know  it  were  Whitmonday 
yet." ' 

Mr.  Penniloe  smiled,  but  without  rejoicing ;  he  under- 


THE    SCHOOL-MASTER   ABROAD  357 

stood  the  reference  too  well.  Upon  Whitmonday  the 
two  rival  benefit  clubs  of  the  village  held  their  feast,  and 
did  their  very  utmost  from  bridge  to  abbey  to  out-drum, 
out -fife,  and  out -trumpet  one  another.  Neither  in  his 
house  was  his  conscience  left  untouched. 

"  I  think  Lady  Waldron  might  have  sent  us  a  better 
man  than  that  is,"  Mrs.  Muggridge  observed  one  after- 
noon when  the  uproar  came  across  the  road  and  pierced 
the  rectory  windows.  "1  am  not  sure  but  what  little  Mas- 
ter Mike  could  keep  better  order  than  that  is.  Why,  the 
beating  of  the  bounds  was  nothing  to  it.  What  could  you 
be  about,  sir,  to  take  such  a  man  as  that  ?"  Thyatira  had 
long  established  full  privilege  of  censure. 

"  Certainly  there  is  a  noise " — the  curate  was  always 
candid  —  "but  he  brought  the  very  highest  credentials 
from  the  Institute.  We  have  scarcely  given  him  fair  trial 
yet.  The  system  is  new,  you  see,  Mrs.  Muggridge,  and  it 
must  be  allowed  some  time  to  take  effect.  No  physical 
force,  the  moral  sense  appealed  to,  the  higher  qualities 
educed  by  kindness ;  the  innate  preference  of  right  pro- 
moted and  strengthened  by  self -exertion  ;  the  juvenile  fac- 
ulties to  be  elevated  from  the  moment  of  earliest  develop- 
ment by  a  perception  of  their  high  responsibility,  and — 
and — well,  I  really  forget  the  rest,  but  you  perceive  that  it 
amounts  to — " 

"Row  and  riot  and  roaring  rubbish — that's  what  it 
amounts  to,  sir.  But  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir ;  excuse  my 
boldness  for  speaking  out  upon  things  so  far  above  me. 
But  when  they  comes  across  the  road  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning  to  beg  for  a  lump  of  raw  beefsteak,  by  reason  of 
two  boys  getting  four  black  eyes  in  fighting  across  the 
master's  desk,  the  new  system  seems  not  apostolical.  An 
apostle  about  as  much  as  I  am !  My  father  was  above  me 
and  had  gifts,  and  he  put  himself  back,  when  not  under- 
standed,  to  the  rising  generation ;  but  he  never  would  de- 
mean himself  to  send  for  raw  beefsteak  for  their  black 
eyes." 

"  And  I  think  he  would  have  shown  his  common-sense 
in  that.  What  did  you  do,  my  good  Thyatira?"  Mr.  Pen- 
niloe  had  a  little  spice  of  mischief  in  him,  which  always 
accompanies  a  sub-sense  of  humour. 


358  TEELYOKOSS 

"  This  was  what  I  did,  sir :  I  looked  at  him,  and  he 
seemed  to  have  been  in  the  wars  himself,  and  to  have 
come  across,  perhaps,  to  get  out  of  them,  being  one  of  the 
clever  ones,  as  true  school-master  sayeth,  and  by  the  same 
token  not  so  thick  of  head ;  and  he  looked  up  at  me,  as  if 
he  was  proud  of  it,  to  take  me  in,  while  the  real  fighting- 
boys  look  down,  as  I  know  by  my  brother  who  was  guilty 
of  it ;  and  I  said  to  him,  very  quiet-like,  *  No  steak  kept 
here  for  moral-force  black-eyes-boys.  You  go  to  Robert 
Jakes,  the  brother  of  a  man  that  understands  his  business, 
and  tell  him  to  enter  in  his  books  half  a  pound  prime-cut, 
for  four  black  eyes,  to  the  credit  of  Vickary  Toogood.'  " 

It  was  not  only  thus,  but  in  many  other  ways,  that  the 
village  at  large  shed  painful  tears  (sadly  warranted  by  the 
ears),  and  the  Church  looked  with  scorn  at  the  children 
straggling  in,  like  a  lot  of  Dissenters  going  anyhow ;  and 
the  cross  at  the  meeting  of  the  four  main  roads,  which  had 
been  a  fine  stump  for  centuries,  lost  its  proper  coat  of 
whitewash  on  Candlemas  Day,  and  the  crystal  Perle  itself 
began  to  be  threaded  with  red  from  pugnacious  noses. 
For  the  lesson  of  all  history  was  repeated,  that  softness 
universal  and  unlimited  concession,  set  off  very  grandly, 
but  come  home  with  broken  heads  to  load  their  guns  with 
grapnel. 

And  what  could  Mr.  Penniloe  do  when  some  of  the 
worst  belligerents  were  those  of  his  own  household — upon 
one  frontier  his  three  pupils,  and  upon  another  Zip  Trem- 
lett?  Pike,  Peckover,  and  Mopuss,  the  pupils  now  come 
back  again,  were  all  very  decent  and  law-abiding  fellows, 
but  had  drifted  into  a  savage  feud  with  the  factory-boys 
at  the  bottom  of  the  village.  As  they  were  but  three 
against  threescore,  it  soon  became  unsafe  for  them  to 
cross  Perle  bridge  without  securing  their  line  of  retreat. 
Of  course  they  looked  down  from  a  lofty  height  upon 
"  cads  who  smelled  of  yarn,  and  even  worse ;"  but  what 
could  moral  or  even  lineal  excellence  avail  them  against 
the  huge  disparity  of  numbers  ?  Each  of  them  held  him- 
self a  match  for  any  three  of  the  enemy,  and  they  issued 
a  challenge  upon  that  scale ;  but  the  paper  -  capped  host 
showed  no  chivalry.  On  one  occasion  this  noble  trio  held 
the  bridge  victoriously  against  the  whole  force  of  the  en- 


THE    SCHOOL-MASTER    ABROAD  359 

emy,  inflicting  serious  loss,  and  even  preparing  for  a 
charge  upon  the  mass.  But  the  cowardly  mass  found  a 
heap  of  road-metal,  and  in  lack  of  their  own  filled  the  air 
with  it,  and  the  Pennilovian  heroes  had  begun  to  bite  the 
dust,  when  luckily  Farmer  John  rode  up,  and  saved  the 
little  force  from  annihilation  by  slashing  right  and  left 
through  the  operative  phalanx. 

When  Mr.  Penniloe  heard  of  this  pitched  battle  he  was 
deeply  grieved,  and,  sending  for  his  pupils,  administered 
a  severe  rebuke  to  them.  But  John  Pike's  reply  was  a 
puzzler  to  him. 

"  If  you  please,  sir,  will  you  tell  us  what  to  do  when  they 
fall  upon  us?" 

"  Endeavour  to  avoid  them,"  replied  the  clergyman,  feel- 
ing some  want  of  confidence,  however,  in  his  counsel. 

"  So  we  do,  sir,  all  we  can,"  Pike  made  answer,  with  the 
aspect  of  a  dove ',  "  but  they  won't  be  avoided  when  they 
think  they've  got  enough  cads  together  to  lick  us." 

"I  should  like  to  know  one  thing,"  inquired  the  Hop- 
per, striking  out  his  calves,  which  were  now  becoming  of 
commanding  size,  "  are  we  to  be  called  *  parson's  pups,' 
and  then  do  nothing  but  run  away  ?" 

"  My  father  says  that  the  road  is  called  the  King's  high- 
way," said  Mopuss,  who  was  a  fat  boy,  with  great  delibera- 
tion, "because  all  his  subjects  have  a  right  to  it,  but  no 
right  to  throw  it  at  one  another." 

"  I  admit  that  a  difficulty  arises  there,"  replied  Mr.  Pen- 
niloe as  gravely  as  he  could,  for  Mopuss  was  always  quot- 
ing his  papa,  a  lawyer  of  some  eminence.  "  But  really, 
my  lads,  we  must  not  have  any  more  of  this.  There  is 
fault  upon  both  sides,  beyond  all  doubt.  I  shall  see  the 
factory  manager  to-morrow,  and  get  him  to  warn  his  pug- 
nacious band.  I  am  very  unwilling  to  confine  you  to  these 
premises ;  but  if  I  hear  of  any  more  pitched  battles,  I  shall 
be  compelled  to  do  so  until  peace  has  been  proclaimed." 

Here  again  was  Jakes  to  seek ;  for  the  fear  of  him  lay 
upon  the  factory  boys  as  heavily  as  upon  his  own  school- 
children. And  perhaps  as  sore  a  point  as  any  was  that  he 
should  have  been  rapt  away  without  full  reason  rendered. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 
LOYALTY 

"  I  DO  not  consider  myself  at  all  an  inquisitive  man," 
Mr.  Penniloe  reflected,  and  here  the  truth  was  with  him, 
"  nevertheless  it  is  hard  upon  me  to  be  refused  almost  the 
right  to  speculate  upon  this  question.  They  have  told  me 
that  it  is  of  the  last  importance  to  secure  this  great  disci- 
plinarian— never  appreciated  while  with  us,  but  now  de- 
plored so  deeply — for  a  special  service  in  the  south  of 
Spain.  What  that  special  service  is  I  am  not  to  know 
until  his  return,  possibly  not  even  then.  And  Mr.  Webber 
has  no  idea  what  the  meaning  of  it  is.  But  I  know  that 
it  has  much  to  do — all  to  do,  I  might  even  say — with  that 
frightful  outrage  of  last  November,  three  months  ago, 
alas!  alas!  and  a  sad  disgrace  upon  this  parish  still.  Mar- 
vellous are  the  visitations  of  the  Lord.  Practically  speak- 
ing, we  know  but  little  more  of  that  affair  now  than  on  the 
day  it  was  discovered.  If  it  were  not  for  one  thing,  I 
should  even  be  driven  at  last  to  Gowler's  black  conclusion, 
and  my  faith  in  the  true  love  of  a  woman,  and  in  the  hon- 
esty of  a  proud,  brave  woman,  would  be  shattered,  and 
leave  me  miserable.  But  now  it  is  evident  that  good  and 
gentle  Nicie  is  acting  entirely  with  her  mother,  and  to 
imagine  that  she  would  wrong  her  father  is  impossible. 
Perhaps  I  shall  even  get  friend  Gowler's  hundred  pounds. 
What  a  triumph  that  would  be !  To  obtain  a  large  sum 
for  the  service  of  God  from  an  avowed — ah  well !  who  am 
I,  to  think  harshly  of  him  ?  But  the  money  might  even 
be  blessed  to  himself,  which  is  the  first  thing  to  consider. 
It  is  my  duty  to  accept  it,  therefore,  if  I  can  only  get  it. 

"  And  here  again  is  Jemmy  Fox,  not  behaving  at  all  as 
he  used  to  do.  Concealing  something  from  me  —  I  am 
almost  sure  of  it  by  his  manner — and  discussing  it,  I  do 


LOYALTY  361 

believe,  with  Gronow — an  intimacy  that  cannot  be  good 
for  him.  I  wish  I  could  perceive  more  clearly  in  what 
points  I  have  neglected  my  duty  to  the  parish ;  for  I  seem 
to  be  losing  hold  upon  it,  which  must  be  entirely  my  own 
fault.  There  must  be  some  want  of  judgment  somewhere 
— what  else  could  lead  to  such  very  sad  fighting  ?  Even 
Zip,  a  little  girl,  disgracing  us  by  fighting  in  the  streets  ! 
That,  at  any  rate,  I  can  stop,  and  will  do  so  pretty  speedily." 

This  was  a  lucky  thought  for  him,  because  it  led  to  ac- 
tion instead  of  brooding,  into  which  miserable  condition  he 
might  otherwise  have  dropped.  And  when  a  man  too  keen 
of  conscience  hauls  himself  across  the  coals  the  governor 
of  a  hot  place  takes  advantage  to  peep  up  between  them. 
Mr.  Penniloe  rang  the  bell  and  begged  Mrs.  Muggridge  to 
be  good  enough  to  send  Miss  Zippy  to  him. 

Zip,  who  had  grown  at  least  two  inches  since  the  death 
of  her  grandmother — not  in  length,  perhaps,  so  much  as  in 
the  height  she  made  of  it — came  slyly  into  the  dusky  book- 
room  with  one  of  her  long  hands  crumpling  the  lower  cor- 
ner of  her  pinafore  into  her  great  brown  eyes.  She  knew 
she  was  going  to  catch  it,  and  knew  also  the  way  to  meet 
it,  for  she  opened  the  conversation  with  a  long-drawn  sob. 

"  Don't  be  frightened,  my  dear  child,"  said  the  parson, 
with  the  worst  of  his  intention  waning ,  "  I  am  not  going 
to  scold  you  much,  my  dear." 

"Oh,  I  was  so  terrible  afraid  you  was."  The  little  girl 
crept  up  close  to  him  and  began  to  play  with  his  button- 
hole, curving  her  lissome  fingers  in  and  out,  like  rosebuds 
in  a  trellis,  and  looking  down  at  the  tear-drops  on  her  pinny. 
"  Plaise,  sir,  1  knows  well  enough  as  I  desarves  a  bit  of  it." 

"  Then  why  did  you  do  it,  my  dear  child  ?  But  I  am 
glad  that  you  feel  it  to  be  wrong." 

The  clergyman  was  sitting  in  the  deep,  square  chair, 
where  most  of  his  sermons  came  to  him,  and  he  brought 
his  calm  face  down  a  little  to  catch  the  expression  of  the 
young  thing's  eyes.  Suddenly  she  threw  herself  into  his 
arms  and  kissed  his  lips  and  cheeks  and  forehead,  and 
stroked  his  silvery  hair,  and  burst  into  a  passionate  wail ; 
and  then  slid  down  upon  a  footstool  and  nursed  his  foot. 

"  Do  'e  know  why  I  done  that  ?"  she  whispered,  look- 
ing up  over  his  knees  at  him.  "  Because  there  be  nobody 
16 


362  PEKLYCEOSS 

like  'e  in  the  heavens  or  the  earth  or  the  waters  under  the 
earth.  Her  may  be  as  jealous  as  ever  her  plaiseth,  but  I 
tell  'e  I  don't  care  a  cuss." 

"My  dear  little  impetuous  creature" — Mr.  Penniloe  knew 
that  his  darling  Fay  was  the  one  defied  thus  recklessly — 
"  I  am  sure  that  you  are  fond  of  all  of  us.  And  to  please 
me,  as  well  as  for  much  higher  reasons,  you  must  never 
use  bad  words.  Bad  deeds,  too,  I  have  heard  of,  Zip, 
though  I  am  not  going  to  scold  much  now.  But  why  did 
you  get  into  conflict  with  a  boy  ?" 

Zip  pondered  the  meaning  of  these  words  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  then  her  conscience  interpreted  : 

"  Because  he  spoke  bad  of  'e  about  the  Fair."  She 
crooked  her  quick  fingers  together  as  she  spoke,  and  tore 
them  asunder  with  vehemence. 

"  And  what  did  you  do  to  him  ?    Eh,  Zip  ?    Oh,  Zip !" 

"  Nort,  for  to  sarve  'un  out  as  a'  desarved.  Only  pulled 
most  of  's  hair  out.  His  moother  hurned  arter  me ;  but  I 
got  inside  the  ge-at." 

"  A  nice  use,  indeed,  for  my  premises — to  make  them  a 
refuge  after  committing  assault  and  battery  !  Well,  what 
shall  we  come  to  next?" 

"  Plaise,  sir,  I  want  to  tell  'e  zummut,"  said  the  child, 
looking  up  very  earnestly.  "  Bain't  it  Perlycrass  Fair 
come  Tuesday  next?" 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  it  is.  A  day  of  sad  noise  and 
uproar.  Remember  that  little  Zip  must  not  go  outside 
the  gates  that  day." 

"  Nor  passon,  nayther " — the  child  took  hold  of  his 
hand  as  if  she  were  pulling  him  inside  the  gate,  for  her 
nature  was  full  of  gestures ;  and  then  she  gazed  at  him 
with  a  sage  smile  of  triumph — "  and  passon  mustn't  go 
nayther." 

Mr.  Penniloe  took  little  heed  of  this  (though  he  had  to 
think  of  it  afterwards),  but  sent  the  child  to  have  her 
tea  with  Muggridge  and  the  children. 

But  before  he  could  set  to  his  work  in  earnest,  although 
he  had  discovered  much  to  do,  in  came  his  own  child,  lit- 
tle Fay,  looking  round  the  room  indignantly.  With  her 
lady-like  style  she  was  much  too  grand  to  admit  a  sus- 
picion of  jealousy,  but  she  smoothed  her  golden  hair 


LOYALTY  363 

gently  back,  and  just  condescended  to  glance  round  the 
chairs.  Mr.  Penniloe  said  nothing,  and  feigned  to  see 
nothing,  though  getting  a  little  afraid  in  his  heart;  for 
he  always  looked  on  Fay  as  representing  her  dear  mother. 
He  knew  that  the  true  way  to  learn  a  child's  sentiments  is 
to  let  them  come  out  of  their  own  accord.  There  is 
nothing  more  jealous  than  a  child — except  a  dog. 

"  Oh,  I  thought  Darkie  was  here  again !"  said  Fay, 
throwing  back  her  shoulders  and  spinning  on  one  leg. 
"  This  room  belongs  to  Darkie  now  altogether,  though  I 
can't  see  what  right  she  has  to  it." 

Mr.  Penniloe  treated  this  soliloquy  as  if  he  had  not 
heard  it,  and  went  on  with  his  work  as  if  he  had  no  time 
to  attend  to  children's  affairs  just  now. 

"  It  may  be  right  or  it  may  be  wrong,"  said  Fay,  ad- 
dressing the  room  in  general,  and  using  a  phrase  she  had 
caught  up  from  Pike,  a  very  great  favourite  of  hers  ;  "  but 
I  can't  see  why  all  the  people  of  this  house  should  have 
to  make  way  for  a  gypsy." 

This  was  a  little  too  much  for  a  father  and  clergyman 
to  put  up  with.  "  Fay  !"  said  Mr.  Penniloe,  in  a  voice  that 
made  her  tremble ;  and  she  came  and  stood  before  him, 
contrite  and  sobbing,  with  her  head  down  and  both  hands 
behind  her  back.  Without  raising  her  eyes  the  fair  child 
listened,  while  her  father  spoke  impressively ;  and  then, 
with  a  reckless  look,  she  tendered  full  confession. 

"  Father,  I  know  that  I  am  very  wicked,  and  I  seem  to 
get  worse  every  day.  I  wish  I  was  the  devil  altogether, 
because  then  I  could  not  get  any  worse." 

"  My  little  child,"  said  her  father,  with  amazement,  "  I 
can  scarcely  believe  my  ears.  My  gentle  little  Fay  to  use 
such  words  !" 

"  Oh,  she  thinks  nothing  of  saying  that !  And  you 
know  how  fond  you  are  of  her,  papa.  I  thought  it  might 
make  you  fond  of  me." 

"  This  must  be  seen  to  at  once,"  thought  Mr.  Penniloe, 
when  he  had  sent  his  jealous  little  pet  away ;  "  but  what 
can  I  do  with  that  poor  deserted  child  ?  Passionate,  lov- 
ing, very  strong-willed,  grateful,  fearless,  sensitive,  in- 
clined to  be  contemptuous,  wonderfully  quick  at  learning, 
she  has  all  the  elements  of  a  very  noble  woman — or  of  a 


364  PEELYCKOSS 

very  pitiable  wreck.  Quite  unfit  to  be  with  my  children, 
as  my  better  judgment  pronounced  at  first.  She  ought 
to  be  under  a  religious,  large-minded,  firm,  but  gentle 
woman — a  lady,  too,  or  she  would  laugh  at  her.  Though 
she  speaks  broad  Devonshire  dialect  herself,  she  detects 
in  a  moment  the  mistakes  of  others,  and  she  has  a  lofty 
contempt  for  vulgarity.  She  is  thrown,  by  the  will  of  God, 
upon  my  hands,  and  I  should  be  a  coward  or  a  heartless 
wretch  if  I  shirked  the  responsibility.  It  will  almost 
break  her  heart  to  go  from  me ;  but  go  she  must  for  her 
own  sake,  as  well  as  that  of  my  little  ones." 

"  How  are  you,  sir  ?"  cried  a  cheerful  voice.  "  I  fear 
that  I  interrupt  you.  But  I  knocked  three  or  four  times 
and  got  no  answer.  Excuse  my  coming  in  like  this.  Can 
I  have  a  little  talk  with  you  ?" 

"  Certainly,  Dr.  Fox.  I  beg  your  pardon ;  but  my  mind 
was  running  upon  difficult  questions.  Let  us  have  the 
candles,  and  then  I  am  at  your  service." 

"  Now,"  said  Jemmy,  when  they  were  alone  again,  "  I 
dare  say  you  think  that  I  have  behaved  very  badly  in 
keeping  out  of  your  way  so  long." 

"  Not  badly,  but  strangely,"  replied  the  parson,  who 
never  departed  from  the  truth,  even  for  the  sake  of  polite- 
ness. "  I  concluded  that  there  must  be  some  reason, 
knowing  that  I  had  done  nothing  to  cause  it." 

"  I  should  rather  think  not.  Nothing  ever  changes 
you.  But  it  was  for  your  sake.  And  now  I  will  en- 
lighten you,  as  the  time  is  so  close  at  hand.  It  appears 
that  you  have  not  succeeded  in  abolishing  the  Fair." 

"  Not  for  this  year.  There  were  various  formalities. 
But  this  will  be  the  last  of  those  revels,  I  believe.  The 
proclamation  will  be  read  on  Tuesday  morning.  After 
this  year,  I  hope,  no  more  carousals  prolonged  far  into 
the  Penitential  day.  It  will  take  them  by  surprise  ;  but  it 
is  better  so.  Otherwise  there  would  have  been  prepara- 
tions for  a  revel  more  reckless,  as  being  the  last." 

"  I  suppose  you  know,  sir,  what  bitter  offence  you  are 
giving  to  hundreds  of  people  all  around  ?" 

"  I  am  sorry  that  it  should  be  so.  But  it  is  my  simple 
duty." 

"  Nothing  ever  stops  you  from  your  duty.     But  I  hope 


LOYALTY  365 

you  will  do  your  duty  to  yourself  and  us  by  remaining 
upon  your  own  premises  that  day." 

"  Certainly  not.  If  I  did  such  a  thing  I  should  seem 
to  be  frightened  of  my  own  act.  Please  G-od,  I  shall  be 
in  the  market-place  to  hear  the  proclamation  read,  and 
attend  to  my  parish  work  afterwards." 

"  I  know  that  it  is  useless  to  argue  with  you,  sir.  None 
of  our  people  would  dare  to  insult  you ;  but  one  cannot 
be  sure  of  outsiders.  At  any  rate,  do  keep  near  the  vil- 
lage, where  there  are  plenty  to  defend  you." 

"  No  one  will  touch  me.  I  am  not  a  hero  ;  and  I  can't 
afford  to  get  my  new  hat  damaged.  I  shall  remain  among 
the  civilized  unless  I  am  called  away." 

"  Well,  that  is  something,  though  not  all  that  I  could 
wish.  And  now  I  will  tell  you  why  I  am  glad,  much  as  I 
dislike  the  Fair,  that  for  this  year  at  least  it  is  to  be.  It 
is  a  most  important  date  to  me,  and  I  hope  it  will  bring 
you  some  satisfaction  also.  Unless  we  manage  very  bad- 
ly indeed,  or  have  desperately  bad-luck,  we  shall  get  hold 
of  the  villains  who  profaned  your  church-yard,  and  through 
them  of  course  find  the  instigator." 

With  this  preface  Fox  told  his  tale  to  Mr.  Penniloe, 
and  quite  satisfied  him  about  the  reasons  for  concealing 
it  so  long,  as  well  as  made  him  see  that  it  would  not  do 
to  preach  upon  the  subject  yet. 

"  My  dear  young  friend,  no  levity,  if  you  please,"  said 
the  parson,  though  himself  a  little — a  very  little — prone  to 
it  on  the  sly  among  people  too  solid  to  stumble.  "  I  draw 
my  lessons  from  the  past  or  present.  Better  men  than 
myself  insist  upon  the  terrors  of  the  future,  and  scare  peo- 
ple from  looking  forward.  But  our  Church,  according  to 
my  views,  is  a  cheerful  and  progressive  mother,  encourag- 
ing her  children,  and  fortifying — " 

"  Quite  so,"  said  Jemmy  Fox,  anticipating  too  much  on 
that  head ;  "  but  she  would  not  fortify  us  with  such  a 
Lenten  fare  as  this.  Little  pun,  sir,  not  so  very  bad. 
However,  to  business.  I  meant  to  have  told  you  nothing 
of  this  till  Monday  or  Tuesday,  until  it  struck  me  that 
you  would  be  hurt,  perhaps,  if  the  notice  were  so  very 
short.  The  great  point  is  that  not  a  word  of  our  inten- 
tions should  get  abroad,  or  the  rogues  might  make  them- 


366  PEELYCKOSS 

selves  more  scarce  than  rogues  unluckily  are  allowed  to 
be.  This  is  why  we  have  put  off  our  application  to  Mock- 
ham  until  Tuesday  morning;  and  even  then  we  shall  lay 
our  information  as  privately  as  possible.  But  we  must 
have  a  powerful  posse  when  we  proceed  to  arrest  them,  for 
one  of  the  men,  as  I  told  you,  is  of  tremendous  bulk  and 
stature,  and  the  other  not  a  weakling.  And  perhaps  the 
third,  the  fellow  they  come  to  meet,  will  show  fight  on 
their  behalf.  We  must  allow  no  chance  of  escape,  and 
possibly  they  may  have  fire-arms.  We  shall  want  at  least 
four  constables,  as  well  as  Gronow  and  myself." 

"  But  all  good  subjects  of  the  King  are  bound  to  assist, 
if  called  upon  in  the  name  of  his  Majesty,  at  the  execution 
of  a  warrant." 

"  So  they  are ;  but  they  never  do  it,  even  when  there 
is  no  danger.  In  the  present  case  they  would  boldly  run 
away.  And  more  than  that,  by  ten  o'clock  on  Fair-night 
how  will  his  Majesty's  true  lieges  be  ?  Unable  to  keep 
their  own  legs,  1  fear.  The  trouble  will  be  to  keep  our 
own  force  sober.  But  Gronow  has  undertaken  to  see  to 
that.  If  he  can  do  it  we  shall  be  all  right.  We  may  fair- 
ly presume  that  the  enemy  also  will  not  be  too  steady 
upon  their  pins.  The  only  thing  that  I  don't  like  is  that 
a  man  of  Gronow's  age  should  be  in  the  scuffle.  He  has 
promised  to  keep  in  the  background ;  but  if  things  get 
lively,  can  I  trust  him  ?" 

"  I  should  think  it  very  doubtful.  He  looks  an  uncom- 
monly resolute  man.  If  there  is  a  conflict,  he  will  be  in 
it.  But  do  you  think  that  the  big  man  Harvey  really  is 
our  Zippy's  father?  If  so,  I  am  puzzled  by  what  his 
mother  said,  and  I  think  the  old  lady  was  truthful.  So 
far  as  I  could  understand  what  she  said,  her  son  had  never 
been  engaged  in  any  of  the  shocking  work  we  hear  so 
much  of  now.  And  she  would  not  have  denied  it  from 
any  sense  of  shame,  for  she  confessed  to  even  worse  things 
on  the  part  of  other  sons." 

"  She  may  not  have  known  it.  He  has  so  rarely  been 
at  home.  A  man  of  that  size  would  have  been  notorious 
throughout  the  parish  if  he  had  ever  lived  at  home ; 
whereas  nobody  knows  him,  not  even  Joe  Crang,  who 
knows  every  man  and  horse  for  miles  around.  But  the 


LOYALTY  367 

Whetstone  people  are  a  tribe  apart,  and  keep  all  their  des- 
olate region  to  themselves." 

"  The  district  is  extra-parochial,  a  sort  of  No-man's  Land 
almost,"  Mr.  Penniloe  answered,  thoughtfully.  "  An  en- 
tire parish  intervenes  between  their  hill  and  Hagdon,  so 
that  I  cannot  go  among  them  without  seeming  to  intrude 
upon  a  neighbour's  duties.  Otherwise  it  is  very  sad  to 
think  that  a  colony  almost  of  heathens  should  be  per- 
mitted in  the  midst  of  us.  I  hear  that  there  is  a  new 
landowner  now,  coming  from  your  father's  part  of  the 
country,  who  claims  seigniorial  rights  over  them,  which 
they  intend  to  resist  with  all  their  might." 

"  To  be  sure.  Sir  Henry  Haggerstone  is  the  man,  a 
great  friend  of  mine,  and  possibly  something  nearer  before 
long.  He  cares  not  a  pin  for  the  money ;  but  he  is  not 
the  man  to  forego  his  rights,  especially  when  they  are 
challenged.  I  take  a  great  interest  in  those  people.  Sir 
Henry  promised  me  an  introduction,  through  his  steward, 
or  whoever  it  is ;  and  but  for  this  business  I  should  have 
gone  over.  But  as  these  two  fellows  have  been  among 
them  I  thought  it  wiser  to  keep  away.  I  intend  to  know 
more  of  them  when  this  is  over.  I  rather  like  fellows  who 
refuse  to  pay." 

"  You  have  plenty  of  experience  of  them,  doctor,  with- 
out going  over  to  the  Whetstone.  Would  that  we  had  a  few 
gratuitous  church-builders,  as  well  as  a  gratuitous  doctor 
in  this  parish !  But  I  sadly  fear  that  your  services  will 
be  too  much  in  demand  after  this  arrest.  You  should 
have  at  least  six  constables  if  our  people  will  not  help 
you.  Supposing  that  the  Whetstone  men  are  there,  would 
they  not  attempt  a  rescue  ?" 

"  No,  sir ;  they  will  not  be  there  ;  it  is  not  their  custom. 
I  am  ashamed,  as  it  is,  to  take  four  men  against  two,  and 
would  not,  except  for  the  great  importance  of  it.  But  I 
am  keeping  you  too  long.  I  shall  make  a  point  of  behold- 
ing yon  no  more  until  Wednesday  morning;  except,  of 
course,  in  church  on  Sunday.  You  must  be  kept  out  of 
it  altogether.  It  is  not  for  me  to  tell  you  what  to 
do,  but  I  trust  that  you  will  not  add  to  our  anxieties 
by  appearing  at  all  in  the  matter.  Your  busiest  time 
of  the  year  is  at  hand,  and  I  scarcely  know  whether 


368  PERLYCEOSS 

I  have  done  right  in  worrying  you  at  all  about  this 
affair." 

"  Truly  the  time  is  appointed  now  for  conflict  with  the 
unseen  powers  rather  than  those  of  our  own  race.  But 
why  are  we  told  to  gird  our  loins  —  of  which  succincture 
the  spencer  is  expressive,  and  therefore  curtly  clerical — 
unless  we  are  also  to  withstand  evil-doers,  even  in  the 
market  -  place  ?  Peace  is  a  thing  that  we  all  desire,  but 
no  man  must  be  selfish  of  it.  If  every  man  stuck  to  his 
own  corner  only,  would  there  ever  be  a  dining-table  ?  Be 
not  surprised  then,  Master  Jemmy  Fox,  if  I  should  appear 
upon  the  warlike  scene.  As  the  statesmen  of  the  age  say 
— when  they  don't  know  what  to  say — I  reserve  my  right 
of  action." 

Fox  was  compelled  to  be  satisfied  with  this,  because  he 
could  get  no  better.  Yet  he  found  it  hard  to  be  comfort- 
able about  the  now  urgent  outlook.  Beyond  any  doubt, 
he  must  go  through  with  the  matter  in  hand,  and  fight  it 
well  out.  But  where  would  he  be  if  the  battle  left  him 
with  two  noble  heroes  disabled,  and  both  of  them  beyond 
the  heroic  time  of  life.  As  concerned  himself,  he  was 
quite  up  for  the  fight,  and  regarded  the  prospect  with 
pleasure,  as  behooves  a  young  man  who  requires  a  little 
change,  and  has  a  lady  -  love  who  will  rejoice  in  his  feats. 
Moreover,  he  knew  that  he  was  very  quick  of  foot,  and 
full  of  nimble  dodges ;  but  these  elderly  men  could  not  so 
skip  away,  even  if  their  dignity  allowed  it.  After  much 
grim  meditation,  when  he  left  the  rectory,  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  go  straight  to  Squire  Mockham ;  and,  although  it 
was  a  doubtful  play  of  cards  to  consult  thus  informally 
the  justice  before  whom  the  information  was  soon  to  be 
laid,  it  seemed  to  him,  on  the  whole,  to  be  the  proper 
course.  On  Tuesday  it  would  be  too  late  to  receive  any 
advice  upon  the  subject. 

But  Mr.  Mockham  made  no  bones  of  it.  Whether  he 
would  grant  the  warrant  or  not  was  quite  another  question, 
and  must  depend  upon  the  formal  depositions  when  re- 
ceived. The  advice  that  he  gave  was  contingent  only 
upon  the  issue  of  the  warrant,  as  to  which  he  could  say 
nothing  yet.  But  he  did  not  hesitate,  as  the  young  man's 
friend,  to  counsel  him  about  his  own  share  in  the  matter. 


LOYALTY  369 

"  Keep  all  your  friends  out  of  it.  Let  none  of  them  be 
there.  The  execution  of  a  warrant  is  the  duty  of  the  au- 
thorities, not  of  amateurs  and  volunteers.  Even  you  your- 
self should  not  appear,  unless  it  be  just  to  identify; 
though  afterwards  you  must  do  so,  of  course,  when  the 
charge  comes  to  be  heard.  Better  even  that  criminals 
should  escape  than  that  non-official  persons  should  take  the 
business  on  themselves.  As  a  magistrate's  son  you  must 
know  this." 

"  That  is  all  very  well  in  an  ordinary  case,"  said  Fox, 
who  had  got  a  great  deal  more  than  he  wanted  ;  "  but 
here  it  is  of  such  extreme  importance  to  get  to  the  bottom 
of  this  matter ;  and  if  they  escape  where  are  we  ?" 

"  All  very  true.  But  if  you  apply  to  the  law  you  must 
let  the  law  do  its  own  work  and  in  its  own  way,  though 
it  be  not  perfect.  All  you  can  do  is  to  hope  for  the 
best." 

"And  probably  get  the  worst,"  said  Jemmy,  with  a 
grin  of  resignation.  "But  I  suppose  I  may  be  at  hand, 
and  ready  to  give  assistance,  if  called  upon  ?" 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Mr.  Mockham,  rubbing  his  hands 
gently;  "that  is  the  privilege  of  every  subject,  though  not 
claimed  very  greedily.  By-the-bye,  I  was  told  that  there 
is  to  be  some  sort  of  wrestling  at  your  Fair  this  year. 
Have  you  heard  anything  about  it  ?" 

"  Well,  perhaps  a  little."  The  young  man  looked  slyly 
at  the  magistrate,  for  one  of  the  first  things  he  had  heard 
was  that  Mockham  had  started  the  scheme  by  giving  ten 
guineas  towards  the  prize-fund.  "  Among  other  things  I 
heard  that  Polwarth  is  coming — the  Cornish  champion, 
as  they  call  him." 

"  And  he  holds  the  West  of  England  belt.  It  is  too 
bad,"  said  the  magistrate,  "  that  we  should  have  no  man 
to  redeem  it.  When  I  was  a  boy  we  should  all  have  been 
mad  if  the  belt  had  gone  over  the  border  long.  But  who 
is  there  now  ?  The  sport  is  decaying,  and  fisticuffs  (far 
more  degrading  work)  are  ousting  it  altogether.  I  think 
you  went  to  see  the  play  last  year." 

"  I  just  looked  in  at  it  once  or  twice.  It  did  not  mat- 
ter very  much  to  me,  as  a  son  of  Somerset ;  but  it  must 
have  been  very  grievous  to  a  true  Devonian  to  see  Corn- 
16* 


370  PERLYCROSS 

wall  chucking  his  countrymen  about  like  a  lot  of  wax- 
headed  ninepins.  And  no  doubt  he  will  do  the  same 
thing  this  year.  You  can't  help  it — can  you,  squire  ?" 

"Don't  be  too  sure  of  that,  my  friend.  A  man  we 
never  heard  of  has  challenged  for  the  belt  on  behalf  of 
Devon.  He  will  not  play  in  the  standards,  but  have  best 
of  three  backs  with  the  Cornishman  for  the  belt  and  a 
special  prize  raised  by  subscription.  When  I  was  a  lad  I 
used  to  love  to  see  it,  aye,  and  I  knew  all  the  leading  men. 
Why,  all  the  great  people  used  to  go  to  see  it  then.  The 
lord -lieutenant  of  the  county  would  come  down  from 
Westminster  for  any  great  match ;  and  as  for  magistrates 
— well,  the  times  are  changed." 

"  You  need  not  have  asked  me  the  news,  I  see.  To 
know  all  about  it  I  must  come  to  you.  I  should  have 
been  glad  to  see  something  of  it,  if  it  is  to  be  such  a  big 
affair.  But  that  will  be  impossible  on  account  of  this 
job.  Good-night,  sir.  Twelve  o'clock,  I  think  you  said, 
will  suit  for  our  application  ?" 

"  Yes,  and  to  stop  malicious  mouths  —  for  they  get  up 
an  outcry  if  one  knows  anybody  —  I  shall  get  Sir  Edwin 
Sanford  to  join  me.  He  is  in  the  Commission  for  Somer- 
set, too;  and  so  we  can  arrange  it — if  issued  at  all,  to  hold 
good  across  the  border." 


CHAPTER    XXXV 
A    WRESTLING     BOUT 


VALENTINE'S  DAY  was  on  Sunday  that  year,  and  a  vio- 
lent gale  from  the  south  and  west  set  in  before  daylight  and 
lasted  until  the  evening  without  bringing  any  rain.  Anxi- 
ety was  felt  about  the  chancel  roof,  which  had  only  been 
patched  up  temporarily,  and  water-proofed  with  thick  tar- 
paulins ;  for  the  Exeter  builders  had  ceased  work  entirely 
during  that  December  frost,  and  as  yet  had  not  returned 
to  it.  To  hurry  them  while  engaged  elsewhere  would  not 
have  been  just,  or  even  wise,  inasmuch  as  they  might  very 
fairly  say,  "  Let  us  have  a  little  balancing  of  books  first, 
if  you  please." 

However,  the  old  roof  withstood  the  gale,  being  shel- 
tered from  the  worst  of  it,  and  no  further  sinking  of  the 
wall  took  place  ;  but  at  the  abbey,  some  fifty  yards  east- 
ward, a  very  sad  thing  came  to  pass.  The  south-western 
corner  and  the  western  end  (the  most  conspicuous  part 
remaining)  were  stripped,  as  if  by  a  giant's  rip-hook,  of 
all  their  dark  mantle  of  ivy.  Like  a  sail  blown  out  of 
the  bolt-ropes,  away  it  all  went  bodily,  leaving  the  white 
flint  rough  and  rugged  and  staring  like  a  suburban  villa 
of  the  most  choice  effrontery.  The  contrast  with  the 
remainder  of  the  ruins  and  the  old  stone  church  was 
hideous ;  and  Mr.  Penniloe  at  once  resolved  to  replace 
and  secure  afresh  as  much  of  the  fallen  drapery  as  had 
not  been  shattered  beyond  hope  of  life.  Walter  Had- 
don  very  kindly  offered  to  supply  the  ladders  and  pay 
half  the  cost ;  for  the  picturesque  aspect  of  his  house 
was  ruined  by  this  bald  background.  This  job  was  to 
be  put  in  hand  on  Thursday ;  but  worse  things  happened 
before  that  day. 

"  Us  be  going  to  have  a  bad  week  of  it,"  old  Channing, 


372  PERLYOROSS 

the  clerk,  observed  on  Monday,  as  he  watched  the  four 
vanes  on  the  tower  (for  his  eyes  were  almost  as  keen  as 
ever)  and  the  woodcock  feathers  on  the  western  sky ; 
"never  knowed  a  dry  gale  yet  but  were  follered  by  a 
wet  one  twice  as  bad  ;  leastways  if  a'  coom  from  the  Dart- 
moor mountains." 

Ho*vever,  things  seemed  right  enough  on  Tuesday  morn- 
ing to  people  who  seldom  think  much  of  the  sky,  and 
the  rustics  came  trooping  in  to  the  Fair,  as  brave  as  need 
be,  and  with  all  their  Sunday  finery.  A  prettier  lot  of 
country  girls  no  Englishman  might  wish,  and  perhaps  no 
other  mau  might  hope  to  see,  than  the  laughing,  gig- 
gling, blushing,  wondering,  simpering,  fluttering,  or  brid- 
ling maidens,  fresh  from  dairy  or  churn  or  linhay,  but  all 
in  very  bright  array,  with  love-knots  on  their  breasts  and 
lavender  in  their  pocket-handkerchiefs.  With  no  depress- 
ing elegance  perhaps  among  them,  and  no  poetic  sighing 
for  impossible  ideals ;  and  probably  glancing  backward 
more  than  forward  on  the  path  of  life,  because  the  rule 
and  the  practice  is  for  the  lads  of  the  party  to  walk 
behind. 

Louts  are  these,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  if  looked  at 
from  too  high  a  point ;  and  yet,  in  their  way,  not  by  any 
means  so  low  as  a  topper  on  the  high  horse  with  astral 
spurs  and  a  banner  of  bad  Latin  might  condemn  them  for 
to  be.  If  they  are  clumsy  and  awkward  and  sheepish,  and 
can  only  say,  "  Thank'e,  sir  I  Veyther  is  quite  well,"  in 
answer  to  "How  are  you  to-day,  John?"  some  of  it 
surely  is  by  reason  of  a  very  noble  quality,  now  rarer 
than  the  great  auk's  egg;  and  known,  while  it  was  a 
noun  still  substantive,  as  modesty.  But  there  they  were, 
and  plenty  of  them,  in  the  year  1836 ;  and  they  meant  to 
spend  their  money  in  good  fairing,  if  so  be  their  girls 
were  kind. 

Mr.  Penniloe  had  a  lot  of  good  heart  in  him  ;  and  when 
he  came  out  to  stand  by  the  bellman  and  trumpeter 
who  thrilled  the  market-place,  his  common -sense  and 
knowledge  of  the  darker  side  had  as  much  as  they  could 
do  to  back  him  up  against  the  impression  of  the  fair 
young  faces  that  fell  into  the  dumps  at  his  sad  decree. 
The  strong  evil-doers  were  not  come  yet,  their  time  would 


A    WRESTLING    BOTJT  373 

not  begin  till  the  lights  began  to  flare,  and  the  dark  cor- 
ners hovered  with  temptation.  Silence  was  enjoined  three 
times  by  ding-dong  of  bell  and  blare  of  trump,  and  thrice 
the  fatal  document  was  read  with  stern  solemnity  and 
mute  acceptance  of  every  creature  except  ducks,  whom 
nothing  short  of  death  can  silence,  and  scarcely  even  that 
when  once  their  long  valves  quiver  with  the  elegiac 
strain. 

The  trumpeter  from  Exeter,  with  scarlet  sash  and  tassel, 
looked  down  from  an  immeasurable  height  upon  the  vil- 
lage bellman  and  a  fiddler  in  the  distance,  and  took  it 
much  amiss  that  he  should  be  compelled  to  time  his  sono- 
rous blasts  by  the  tinkle  tinkle  of  old  nunks. 

"  Truly  I  am  sorry,"  said  the  curate  to  himself,  while 
lads  and  lasses,  decked  with  primrose  and  the  first  white 
violets,  whispered  sadly  to  one  another,  "  No  more  fair- 
ing after  this,"  "I  am  sorry  that  it  should  be  needful 
to  stop  all  these  innocent  enjoyments." 

"  Then  why  did  you  send  for  me,  sir  ?"  asked  the  trump- 
eter, rather  savagely,  as  one  who  had  begged  at  the  rectory 
for  beer  to  medicate  his  lips  against  the  twang  of  brass, 
but  won  not  a  drop  from  Mrs.  Muggridge. 

Suddenly  there  came  a  little  volley  of  sharp  drops — not 
of  the  liquid  he  desired — dashed  into  the  trumpeter's  red 
face,  and  against  the  back  of  the  parson's  hak — the  first 
skit  of  rain,  that  seemed  rather  to  rise  as  if  from  a  blow- 
pipe than  fall  from  the  clouds.  Mr.  Penniloe  hastened  to 
his  house  close  by,  for  the  market-place  was  almost  in  a 
straight  line  with  the  school,  and  taking  his  old  gingham 
umbrella,  set  off  alone  for  a  hamlet  called  Southend,  not 
more  than  half  a  mile  from  the  village.  Although  not  so 
learned  in  the  weather  as  his  clerk,  he  could  see  that 
the  afternoon  was  likely  to  prove  wet,  and  the  longer  he 
left  it  the  worse  it  would  be,  according  to  all  indications. 
Without  any  thought  of  adversaries,  he  left  the  village  at 
a  good  brisk  pace  to  see  an  old  parishioner  of  whose  ill- 
ness he  had  heard. 

Crossing  a  meadow  on  his  homeward  course,  he  ob- 
served that  the  foot-path  was  littered  here  and  there  with 
strips  and  patches  of  yellow  osier  peel,  as  if,  since  he  had 
passed  an  hour  or  so  ago,  some  idle  fellow  had  been 


374  PERLYCROSS 

"  whittling  "  wands  from  a  withy-bed  which  was  not  far 
off.  For  a  moment  he  wondered  what  this  could  mean  ; 
but  not  a  suspicion  crossed  his  mind  of  a  rod  in  prepara- 
tion for  his  own  back. 

Alas,  too  soon  was  this  gentleman  enlightened.  The 
lonely  foot-path  came  sideways  into  a  dark  and  still  more 
lonesome  lane,  deeply  sunk  between  tangled  hedges,  ex- 
cept where  a  mouldering  cob-wall  stood,  sole  relic  of  a 
worn-out  linhay.  Mr.  Penniloe  jumped  lightly  from  the 
treddled  stile  into  the  mucky  and  murky  lane,  congratu- 
lating himself  upon  shelter  here,  for  a  squally  rain  was 
setting  in  ;  but  the  leap  was  into  a  den  of  wolves. 

From  behind  the  cob-wall,  with  a  yell,  out  rushed  four 
hulking  fellows,  long  of  arm  and  leg,  still  longer  of  the 
weapons  in  their  hands.  Each  of  them  bore  a  white 
withy  switch,  flexible,  tough,  substantial,  seemly  instru- 
ment for  a  pious  verger;  but  what  would  pious  vergers  be 
doing  here,  and  why  should  their  faces  retire  from  view  ? 
Each  of  them  had  tied  across  his  most  expressive  and  too 
distinctive  part  a  patch  of  white  muslin,  such  as  imparts 
the  sweet  sense  of  modesty  to  a  chamber-window  ;  but 
modesty  in  these  men  was  small. 

Three  of  them  barred  the  parson's  road,  while  the 
fourth  cut  off  his  communications  in  the  rear  ;  but  even 
so  did  he  not  perceive  the  full  atrocity  of  their  intentions. 
To  him  they  appeared  to  be  inditing  of  some  new  form  of 
poaching,  or  some  country  game  of  skill,  perhaps,  or  these 
might  be  rods  of  measurement. 

"  Allow  me  to  pass,  my  friends,"  he  said  ;  "  I  shall  not 
interfere  with  your  proceedings.  Be  good  enough  to  let 
me  go  by." 

"  Us  has  got  a  little  bit  o'  zummat,"  said  the  biggest  of 
them,  with  his  legs  astraddle,  "  to  goo  with  'e,  passon, 
and  to  'baide  with  'e  a  bit.  A  choice  bit  of  fairing,  zort 
o'  peppermint  stick,  or  stick  lickerish." 

"  I  am  not  a  fighting-man,  but  if  any  man  strikes  me, 
let  him  beware  for  himself.  I  am  not  to  be  stopped  on  a 
public  highway  like  this." 

As  Mr.  Penniloe  spoke,  he  unwisely  closed  his  umbrel- 
la, and,  holding  it  as  a  staff  of  defence,  advanced  against 
the  enemy. 


A    WRESTLING    BOUT  375 

One  step  was  all  the  advance  he  made,  for  ere  he  could 
take  another  he  was  collared  and  tripped  up,  and  cast  for- 
ward heavily  upon  his  forehead.  There  certainly  was  a 
great  stone  in  the  mud ;  but  he  never  knew  whether  it  was 
that,  or  a  blow  from  a  stick,  or  even  the  ebony  knob  of  his 
own  umbrella,  that  struck  him  so  violently  as  he  fell ;  but 
the  effect  was  that  he  lay  upon  his  face,  quite  stunned,  and 
in  danger  of  being  smothered  in  the  muck. 

"  Up  with  's  coat-tails !  Us  '11  dust  his  jacket.  Ring 
the  bull  on  'un — one,  two,  dree,  vour." 

The  four  stood  round,  with  this  very  fine  Christian, 
ready,  as  the  Christian  faith  directs,  for  weak  members 
not  warmed  up  with  it — ready  to  take  everything  he  could 
not  help ;  and  the  four  switches  hummed  in  the  air  with 
delight,  like  the  thirsty  swords  of  Homer,  when  a  rush  as 
of  many  winds  swept  them  back  to  innocence.  A  man  of 
great  stature,  and  with  blazing  eyes,  spent  no  words  upon 
them,  but  lifted  up  the  biggest  with  a  chuck  below  his 
chin  which  sent  him  sprawling  into  the  ditch  with  a  broken 
jaw ;  then  took  another  by  the  scruff  of  his  small-clothes 
and  hefted  him  into  a  dogrose  stool,  which  happened  to 
stand  on  the  top  of  the  hedge  with  shark's  teeth  ready  for 
their  business ;  then  he  leaped  over  the  prostrate  parson, 
but  only  smote  vacant  air  that  time.  "  The  devil,  the  devil, 
'tis  the  devil  himself  !"  cried  the  two  other  fellows,  cutting 
for  their  very  lives. 

"  Reckon  I  were  not  a  breath  too  soon,"  said  the  man 
who  had  done  it,  as  he  lifted  Mr.  Penniloe,  whose  lips 
were  bubbling  and  nose  clotted  up ;  "  why,  they  would 

have  killed  'e  in  another  minute,  my  dear.  D if  I 

bain't  afeared  they  has  done  it  now  !" 

That  the  clergyman  should  let  an  oath  pass  unrebuked 
would  have  been  proof  enough  to  any  one  who  knew 
him  that  it  never  reached  his  mind.  His  silver  hair  was 
clogged  with  mud  and  his  gentle  face  begrimed  with 
it,  and  his  head  fell  back  between  the  big  man's  inees, 
and  his  blue  eyes  rolled  about  without  seeing  earth  or 
heaven. 

"  That  d Jemmy  Fox,  we  wants  'un  now.  Never 

knowed  a  doctor  come  when  a'  were  wanted.  Hollo ! 
you  be  moving  there,  be  you  ?  You  dare  stir,  you  mur- 


376  PEKLYCEOSS 

derer !"  It  was  one  of  the  men  lately  pitched  into  the 
hedge ;  but  he  only  groaned  again  at  that  great  voice. 

"Do  'e  veel  a  bit  better  now,  my  dear?  I've  a  girt 
mind  to  kill  they  two  hosebirds  in  the  hedge ;  arid  what's 
more,  I  wull,  if  'e  don't  come  round  pretty  peart." 

As  if  to  prevent  the  manslaughter  threatened,  the  parson 
breathed  heavily  once  or  twice  and  tried  to  put  his  hand  to 
his  temples,  and  then  looked  about  with  a  placid  amazement. 

"  You  'bide  there,  sir,  for  a  second,"  said  the  man,  set- 
ting him  carefully  upon  a  dry  bank,  with  his  head  against 
an  ash-tree.  "  Thy  soul  shall  zee  her  desire  of  thine  en- 
emies, as  I've  a-read  when  I  wor  a  little  buy." 

To  verify  this  promise  of  Holy  Writ,  he  took  up  the 
stoutest  of  the  white  switches,  and  visiting  the  ditch  first, 
and  then  the  hedge-trough,  left  not  a  single  accessible  part 
of  either  of  those  ruffians  without  a  weal  upon  it  as  big 
as  his  thumb,  and  his  thumb  was  not  a  little  one.  They 
howled  like  a  couple  of  pigs  at  the  blacksmith's  when  he 
slips  the  ring  into  their  noses  red-hot,  and  it  is  lawful  to 
hope  that  they  felt  their  evil  deeds. 

"  T'other  two  shall  have  the  very  same,  bumbai ;  I  knows 
where  to  put  hands  on  'em  both,"  said  the  operator,  point- 
ing towards  the  village ;  and  it  is  as  well  to  mention  that 
he  did  it. 

"  Now,  sir,  you  come  along  of  I."  He  cast  away  the 
fourth  rod,  having  elicited  their  virtues,  and  taking  Mr. 
Penniloe  in  his  arms,  went  steadily  with  him  to  the  near- 
est house.  This  stood  alone  in  the  outskirts  of  the  village ; 
and  there  two  very  good  old  ladies  lived,  with  a  handsome 
green  railing  in  front  of  them. 

These,  after  wringing  their  hands  for  some  minutes,  en- 
abled Mr.  Penniloe  to  wash  his  face  and  head,  and  gave 
him  some  red-currant  wine,  and  sent  their  child  of  all  work 
for  Mrs.  Muggridge.  Meanwhile  the  parson  began  to  take 
a  more  distinct  view  of  the  world  again,  his  first  emotion 
being  anxiety  about  his  Sunday  beaver,  which  he  had  been 
wearing  in  honour  of  the  Proclamation — the  last  duty  it 
was  ever  destined  to  discharge.  But  the  "gigantic  indi- 
vidual," as  the  good  ladies  called  him,  was  nowhere  to  be 
seen  when  they  mustered  courage  to  persuade  one  another 
to  peep  outside  the  rails. 


A  WRESTLING  BOUT  377 

By  this  time  the  weather  was  becoming  very  bad. 
Everybody  knows  how  a  great  gale  rises ;  not  with  any 
hurry  or  assertion  of  itself  (as  a  little  squall  does  that  is 
limited  for  time),  but  with  a  soft  hypocritical  sigh  and 
short  puffs  of  dissimulation.  The  solid  great  storm  that 
gets  up  in  the  south,  and  means  to  make  every  tree  in 
England  bow,  to  shatter  the  spray  on  the  Land's-end  cliffs 
while  it  shakes  all  the  towers  of  London,  begins  its  ad- 
vance without  any  broad  rush,  but  with  many  little  tick- 
lings of  the  space  it  is  to  sweep.  A  trumpery  frolic  where 
four  roads  meet,  a  woman's  umbrella  turned  inside  out,  a 
hat  tossed  into  a  horse-pond,  perhaps,  a  weathercock  be- 
fooled into  chase  of  head  with  tail,  and  a  clutch  of  big 
rain-drops  sheafed  into  the  sky  and  shattered  into  mist 
again — these,  and  a  thousand  other  little  pranks  and  pleas- 
antries, are  as  the  shrill  admonitions  of  the  fife  in  the  van- 
guard of  the  great  invasion  of  the  heavens. 

But  what  cares  a  man,  with  his  money  in  his  pockets, 
how  these  larger  things  are  done  ?  And  even  if  his  money 
be  yet  to  seek,  still  more  shall  it  preponderate.  A  tourney 
of  wrestlers  for  cash  and  great  glory  was  crowding  the 
court-yard  of  the  Ivy-bush  with  every  man  who  could  raise 
a  shilling.  A  steep  roof  of  rick-cloth  and  weather-proof 
canvas,  supported  on  a  massive  ridge-pole,  would  have  pro- 
tected the  enclosure  from  any  ordinary  storm ;  but  now 
the  tempestuous  wind  was  tugging,  whistling,  panting, 
shrieking,  and  with  great  might  thundering,  and  the  violent 
rain  was  pelting,  like  the  rattle  of  pebbles  on  the  Chessil 
beach,  against  the  strained  canvas  of  the  roof ;  while  the 
rough  hoops  of  candles  inside  were  swinging,  with  their 
crops  of  guttering  tallow  welted  like  sucked  stumps  of 
asparagus.  Nevertheless,  the  spectators  below,  mounted 
on  bench  or  stool  or  trestle,  or  huddled  against  the  rope- 
ring,  were  jostling  and  stamping  and  craning  their  necks, 
and  digging  elbows  into  one  another,  and  yelling  and 
swearing,  and  waving  rotten  hats,  as  if  the  only  element 
the  Lord  ever  made  was  mob. 

Suddenly  all  jabber  ceased,  and  only  the  howls  of  the 
storm  were  heard,  and  the  patter  from  the  sodden  roof, 
as  Polwarth  of  Bodmin,  having  taken  formal  back  from 
Dascombe  of  Devon  (the  winner  of  the  Standards,  a  very 


378  PERLYCROSS 

fine  player,  but  not  big  enough  for  him),  skirred  his  flat 
hat  into  the  middle  of  the  sawdust,  and  stood  there  flap- 
ping his  brawny  arms,  and  tossing  his  big-rooted  nose  like 
a  bull.  In  the  flare  of  the  lights  his  grin  looked  malig- 
nant and  the  swing  of  his  bulk  overweening ;  and  though 
he  said  nothing  but  "  Cornwall  forever !"  he  said  it  as  if 
it  meant  "  Devonshire  be  d !" 

After  looking  at  the  company  with  mild  contempt,  he 
swaggered  towards  the  umpires  and  took  off  his  belt,  with 
the  silver  buckles  and  the  red  stones  flashing,  and  hung  it 
upon  the  cross-rail  for  defiance.  A  shiver  and  a  tremble 
of  silence  ran  through  the  hearts  and  on  the  lips  of  three 
hundred  sad  spectators.  Especially  a  gentleman  who  sat 
behind  the  umpires,  dressed  in  dark  riding -suit  and  a 
flapped  hat,  was  swinging  from  side  to  side  with  strong 
feeling. 

"  Is  there  no  man  to  try  a  fall  for  Devonshire  ?  Won't 
kill  him  to  be  beaten.  Consolation-money  fifty  shillings," 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  announced,  but  nobody 
came  forward. 

A  deep  groan  was  heard  from  old  Channing,  the  clerk, 
who  had  known  such  very  different  days ;  while  the  Cor- 
nishman  made  his  three  rounds  of  the  ring  before  he  should 
buckle  on  the  belt  again,  and  snorted  each  time  like  Go- 
liath. Gathering  up  the  creases  of  his  calves,  which  hung 
like  the  chins  of  an  alderman,  he  stuck  his  heels  into  the 
Devonshire  earth,  to  ask  what  it  was  made  of.  Then, 
with  a  smile,  which  he  felt  to  be  kind  and  heartily  large 
to  this  part  of  the  world,  he  stooped  to  pick  up  the  hat, 
gay  with  seven  ribbons  wrung  from  Devonshire  button- 
holes. 

But  behold !  while  his  great  hand  was  going  to  pick  it 
up  thus  carelessly,  another  hat  struck  it  and  whirled  it 
away,  as  a  quoit  strikes  a  quoit  that  appears  to  have  won. 

"  Devon  forever !  And  Cornwall  to  the  devil !"  A 
mighty  voice  shouted,  and  a  mighty  man  came  in,  shaking 
the  rain  and  the  wind  from  his  hair.  A  roar  of  hurrahs 
overpowered  the  gale,  as  the  man,  taking  heed  of  nobody, 
strode  up  to  the  belt,  and  with  a  pat  of  his  left  hand,  said — 
"  I  wants  this  here  little  bit  of  ribbon." 

"  Thee  must  plai  for  'un  fust,"  cried  the  hero  of  Cornwall. 


A    WRESTLING    BOUT  379 

"  What  else  be  I  come  for?"  the  other  inquired. 

When  formalities  had  been  satisfied,  and  the  proper 
clothing  donned,  and  the  champions  stood  forth  in  the 
ring  looking  at  one  another,  the  roof  might  have  dropped 
without  any  man  heeding  until  it  came  across  his  eyes. 

The  challenger's  name  had  been  announced — "  Harvey 
Tremlett,  of  Devonshire  " — but  only  one  or  two  besides 
old  Channing  had  any  idea  who  he  was ;  and  even  old 
Channing  was  not  aware  that  the  man  had  been  a  wrestler 
from  early  youth,  so  seldom  had  he  visited  his  native  place. 

"  'A  standeth  like  a  man  as  understood  it,"  "  'A  be  big- 
ger in  the  back  than  Cornishman,"  "  Hope  'a  hath  trained, 
or  's  wind  won't  hold  ;"  sundry  such  comments  of  critical 
power  showed  that  the  public,  as  usual,  knew  ten  times  as 
much  as  the  performers. 

These,  according  to  the  manner  of  the  time,  were  clad 
alike,  but  wore  no  pads,  for  the  brutal  practice  of  kicking 
was  now  forbidden  at  meetings  of  the  better  sort.  A  jacket 
or  jerkin  of  tough  sail-cloth,  half-sleeved  and  open  in  front, 
afforded  firm  grasp,  but  no  clutch  for  throttling ;  breeches 
of  the  stoutest  cord,  belted  at  waist  and  strapped  at  knee, 
red  worsted  stockings  for  Devonshire,  and  yellow  on  behalf 
of  Cornwall,  completed  their  array ;  except  that  the  Cor- 
nishman wore  ankle  boots,  while  the  son  of  Devon,  at  his 
own  request,  was  provided  only  with  sailor's  pumps.  The 
advantage  of  these,  for  lightness  of  step  and  pliancy  of 
sole,  was  obvious  ;  but  very  few  players  would  venture  upon 
them,  at  the  risk  of  a  crushed  and  disabled  foot.  "  Fear 
he  bain't  nim'  enough  for  they  pea-shells.  They  be  all  very 
well  for  a  boy,"  said  Channing. 

The  Cornishman  saw  that  he  had  found  his  match,  per- 
haps even  his  master  in  bodily  strength,  if  the  lasting  power 
could  be  trusted.  Skill  and  endurance  must  decide  the 
issue,  and  here  he  knew  his  own  pre-eminence.  He  had 
three  or  four  devices  of  his  own  invention,  but  of  very 
doubtful  fairness ;  if  all  other  powers  failed,  he  would  have 
recourse  to  them. 

For  two  or  three  circuits  of  the  ring  their  mighty  frames 
and  limbs  kept  time  and  poise  with  one  another.  Each 
with  his  left  hand  grasped  the  other  by  the  shoulder  lap- 
pet ;  each  kept  his  right  hand  hovering  like  a  hawk,  and 


380  PERLYCEOSS 

the  fingers  in  play  for  a  dash,  a  grip,  a  tug.  Face  to  face 
and  eye  to  eye,  intent  upon  every  twinkle,  step  for  step 
they  marched  sideways  as  if  to  the  stroke  of  a  heavy  bell, 
or  the  beating  of  slow  music.  Each  had  his  weight  thrown 
slightly  forward,  and  his  shoulders  slouched  a  little,  watch- 
ing for  one  unwary  move,  and  testing  by  some  subtle  thrill 
the  substance  of  the  other,  as  a  glass  is  filliped  to  try  its 
ring. 

By  a  feint  of  false  step  and  a  trick  of  eye  Polwarth  got 
an  opening.  In  he  dashed,  the  other's  arm  flew  up,  and 
the  Cornish  grip  went  round  him.  In  vain  he  put  forth  his 
mighty  strength,  for  there  was  no  room  to  use  it.  Down 
he  crashed,  but  turned  in  falling,  so  that  the  back  was 
doubtful. 

"  Back  !"  "  Fair  back  !"  "  No  back  at  all."  "  Four  pins." 
"  Never,  no,  three  pins."  "See  where  his  arm  was?" 
"  Foul,  foul,  foul !"  Shouts  of  wrath  and  even  blows  en- 
sued ;  for  a  score  or  two  of  Cornishmen  were  there. 

"  Hush  for  the  umpires  !"  "  Hold  your  noise."  "  Thee 
be  a  liar."  "  So  be  you."  The  wind  and  the  rain  were 
well  out-roared,  until  the  umpires,  after  some  little  consul- 
tation, gave  award. 

"  We  allow  it  true  back  for  Cornwall.  Unless  the  fall 
claims  foul  below  belt.  If  so,  it  will  be  for  referee." 
Which  showed  that  they  differed  upon  that  point. 

"  Let  'un  have  it.  I  won't  claim  no  foul.  Let  'un  do  it 
again,  if  'a  can."  Thus  spake  the  fallen  man,  striding  up 
to  the  umpires'  post.  A  roar  of  cheers  rang  round  the 
tent,  though  many  a  Devonshire  face  looked  glum,  and  a 
few  groans  clashed  with  the  frank  hurrahs. 

The  second  bout  was  a  brief  one,  but  afforded  much  sat- 
isfaction to  all  lovers  of  fair  play,  and  therefore,  perhaps, 
to  the  Cornishmen.  What  Tremlett  did  was  simply  this : 
he  feigned  to  be  wholly  absorbed  in  guarding  against  a 
repetition  of  the  recent  trick.  The  other,  expecting  nothing 
more  than  tactics  of  defence,  was  caught,  quite  unawares, 
by  his  own  device,  and  down  he  went — a  very  candid  four- 
pin  fall. 

Now  came  the  final  bout,  the  supreme  decision  of  the 
tie,  the  crowning  struggle  for  the  palm.  The  issue  was  so 
doubtful  that  the  oldest  and  most  sage  of  all  palaestric  ora- 


A    WRESTLING    BOUT  381 

cles  could  but  look — and  feared  that  voice  might  not  prove 
— wise.  Skill  was  equally  divided  (setting  dubious  tricks 
aside),  strength  was  a  little  in  favour  of  Devon,  but  not  to 
much  turn  of  the  balance  (for  Cornwall  had  not  produced 
a  man  of  such  magnitude  for  many  years),  experience 
was  on  Cornwall's  side ;  condition  and  lasting  power 
seemed  to  be  pretty  fairly  on  a  par.  What  was  to  settle 
it  ?  Devonshire  knew. 

That  is  to  say,  the  fair  county  had  its  hopes — though 
always  too  modest  and  frugal  to  back  them — that  some- 
thing which  it  produces  even  more  freely  than  fair  cheeks 
and  kind  eyes,  and  of  which  the  corner  land  is  not  so 
lavish — to  wit,  fine  temper  and  tranquillity  of  nature,  might 
come  to  their  mother's  assistance.  Even  for  fighting,  no 
man  is  at  the  best  of  himself  when  exasperated.  Far  less 
can  he  be  so  in  the  gentler  art. 

A  proverb  of  large  equity  and  time-honoured  wisdom 
declares  (with  the  bluntness  of  its  race)  that  "  sauce  for 
the  goose  is  sauce  for  the  gander."  This  maxim  is  pleas- 
ant enough  to  the  goose,  but  the  gander  sputters  wrath- 
fully  when  it  comes  home  to  his  breast.  Polwarth  felt  it 
as  a  heinous  outrage  that  he  had  been  the  victim  of  his 
own  device.  As  he  faced  his  rival  for  the  last  encounter, 
a  scowl  came  down  upon  his  noble,  knobby  forehead,  his 
keen  eyes  glowered  as  with  fire  in  his  chest,  and  his  wiry 
lips  closed  viciously.  The  Devonshire  man,  endowed  with 
larger  and  less  turbid  outlook,  perceived  that  the  other's 
wrath  was  kindled,  and  his  own  duty  was  to  feed  the 
flame. 

Accordingly,  by  quiet  tricks  and  flicks,  such  as  no  man 
would  even  feel  unless  already  too  peppery,  he  worked  the 
moral  system  hard,  and  roused  in  the  other's  ample  breast 
— or  brain,  if  that  be  the  combative  part — a  lofty  disdain 
of  discretion.  Polwarth  ground  his  teeth  and  clinched  his 
fist,  spat  fire — and  all  was  up  with  him.  One  savage  dash 
he  made,  which  might  have  swept  a  mile-stone  backward, 
breast  clashed  on  breast,  he  swung  too  high^the  great  yel- 
low legs  forsook  the  earth,  and  the  great  red  ones  flashed 
between  them,  then  the  mighty  frame  spun  in  the  air  like 
a  flail,  and  he  fell  flat  as  the  blade  of  a  turf -beater's  spade. 

"  All  over !     All  up  !     Needn't  ask  about  that.     Three 


382  PERLYCEOSS 

times  three  for  Devonshire  !     Again,  again,  again  !     Car- 
nies,  what  can  'e  say  to  that  now  ?" 

Wild  triumph,  fierce  dejection,  yearning  to  fight  it  out 
prevailed ;  every  man's  head  was  out  of  the  government  of 
his  neck — when  these  two  leading  counties  were  quenched 
alike.  The  great  pole  of  red  pine,  fit  mast  for  an  admiral, 
bearing  all  the  structure  overhead,  snapped  like  a  carrot 
to  a  vast  wild  blast.  In  a  weltering  squash  lay  victor  and 
vanquished,  man  with  his  fists  up,  and  man  eager  to  go  at 
him ;  hearts  too  big  to  hold  themselves  for  exultation,  and 
hearts  so  low  that  wifely  touch  was  needed  to  encourage 
them ;  glorious  head  that  had  won  fifty  shillings,  and  poor 
numskull  that  had  lost  a  pot  of  beer.  Prostrate  all,  with 
mouths  full  of  tallow,  sawdust,  pitch,  and  another  fellow's 
toes.  Many  were  for  a  twelvemonth  limpers ;  but  no- 
body went  to  church-yard. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI 
A     FIGHTING     BOUT 

AFTER  that  mighty  crash  every  body  with  any  sense  left 
in  its  head  went  home.  There  was  more  to  talk  about 
than  Perlycross  had  come  across  in  half  a  century.  And 
the  worst  of  it  was  that  every  blessed  man  had  his  own 
troubles  first  to  attend  to,  which  is  no  fun  at  all,  though 
his  neighbour's  are  so  pleasant.  The  Fair  in  the  covered 
market-place  had  long  been  a  dreary  concern,  contending 
vainly  against  the  stronger  charm  of  the  wrestling-booth, 
and  still  more  vainly  against  the  furious  weather.  Even 
the  biggest  and  best -fed  flares — and  they  were  quite  as 
brisk  in  those  days  as  they  are  now — gifted  though  they 
might  be  with  rage  and  vigour,  lost  all  self-control,  and 
dashed  in  yellow  forks  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  singe- 
ing sometimes  their  own  author's  whiskers.  Like  a  man 
who  lives  too  fast,  they  killed  themselves;  and  the  poor 
cheap-jacks,  the  universal  oracles,  the  benevolent  bounty- 
men,  chucking  guineas  right  and  left,  the  master  of  Cupid's 
bower,  who  supplied  every  lass  with  a  lord,  and  every  lad 
with  a  lady  having  a  lapf  ul  of  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 
— sadly  they  all  strapped  up  and  lit  their  pipes,  and  shiv- 
ered at  that  terrible  tramp  before  them,  cursing  the  weather 
and  their  wives,  and  even  the  hallowed  village  of  Perly- 
cross. 

Though  the  coaches  had  forsaken  this  ancient  track  from 
Exeter  to  London,  and  followed  the  broader  turnpike  roads, 
there  still  used  to  be  every  now  and  then  a  string  of  pack- 
horses,  or  an  old  stage-wagon,  not  afraid  of  hills  and  mak- 
ing no  fuss  about  time,  but  straggling  at  leisure  through 
the  pristine  thoroughfares,  thwarted  less  with  toll-bars. 

Notably,  old  Hill's  "  God-be-with-us  "  van  left  Exeter  on 
Tuesdays,  with  the  good-will  of  three  horses,  some  few 


384  PEEL YCKOSS 

hours  in  the  afternoon,  and  might  be  trusted  to  appear  at 
Perlycross  according  to  the  weather  and  condition  of  the 
roads.  What  more  comfortable  course  of  travel  could  there 
be  for  any  one  who  understood  it,  and  enjoyed  sound  sleep 
and  a  good  glass  of  ale  at  intervals,  with  room  enough  to 
dine  inside  if  he  thought  fit,  than  the  "  God-be-with-us  "  van 
afforded?  For  old  Hill  was  always  in  charge  of  it  himself, 
and  expected  no  more  than  a  penny  a  mile,  and  perhaps 
the  power  to  drink  the  good  health  of  any  peaceful  sub- 
ject of  the  King  who  might  be  inclined  to  come  along  with 
him  and  listen  to  his  moving  tales.  The  horses  were  fat, 
and  they  rested  at  night,  and  took  it  easily  in  the  day- 
time ;  and  the  leader  had  three  little  bells  on  his  neck, 
looking,  when  you  sat  behind  him,  like  a  pair  of  scales; 
and  without  them  he  always  declined  to  take  a  step,  and 
the  wheelers  backed  him  up  in  that  denial.  For  a  man 
not  bound  to  any  domineering  hour,  or  even  to  a  self-im- 
portant day,  the  broad-wheeled  wagon  belonging  to  old 
Hill — "  Old-as-the-Hills,"  some  flippant  younkers  called 
him — was  as  good  an  engine  as  need  be  for  crossing  of  the 
country,  when  it  wanted  to  be  crossed,  and  halting  at  any 
town  of  hospitable  turn. 

That  same  Shrove  Tuesday — and  it  is  well  to  mark  the 
day,  because  Master  Hill  was  so  superior  to  dates — this 
man  who  asserted  the  dignity  of  our  race  by  not  allowing 
matter  to  disturb  him,  was  coming  downhill  with  his  heavy 
drag  on,  in  a  road  that  was  soft  from  the  goodness  of  the 
soil,  when  a  man  with  two  legs  made  of  better  stuff  than 
ours  either  came  out  of  a  gate  across  the  van,  or  else 
fairly  walked  it  down  by  superior  speed  behind.  "  Ship 
ahoy !"  he  shouted ;  and  old  Hill  was  wide  awake,  for  he 
had  two  or  three  barrels  that  would  keep  rolling  into  the 
small  of  his  back — as  he  called  it,  with  his  usual  obliv- 
ion of  chronology — and  so  he  was  enabled  to  discern  this 
man,  and  begin  at  his  leisure  to  consider  him. 

If  the  man  had  shouted  again,  or  shown  any  other 
symptom  of  small  hurry,  the  driver — or,  properly  speak- 
ing, the  drifter,  for  the  horses  did  their  own  driving — 
would  have  felt  some  disappointment  in  him,  as  an  inferi- 
or fellow-creature.  But  the  man  on  foot,  or,  at  least,  on 
stumps,  was  in  no  more  hurry  than  old  Hill  himself,  and 


A   FIGHTING   BOUT  385 

steadfastly  trudged  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  looking  only 
at  the  horses — a  very  fine  sign. 

The  land  being  Devon,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  there 
was  no  inconsistency  about  it.  Wherever  one  hill  ends, 
there  another  begins,  with  just  room  enough  between  them 
for  a  horse  to  spread  his  legs  and  shake  himself  with 
self -approbation.  And  he  is  pretty  sure  to  find  a  crystal 
brook  purling  across  the  road  and  twinkling  bright  temp- 
tation to  him. 

"  Hook  up  skid,  and  then  'e  can  jump  in,"  said  old  Hill, 
in  the  hollow,  where  the  horses  backed ;  and  he  knew  by 
the  clank  that  it  had  been  done,  and  then,  by  a  rattle  on 
the  floor  behind  him,  that  the  stranger  had  embarked  by 
the  chains  at  the  rear.  After  about  a  mile  or  so  of  soft, 
low  whistling,  in  which  he  excelled  all  carriers,  old  Hill 
turned  round  with  a  pleasant  grin — for  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  good  about  him. 

"  Going  far  ?"  he  asked,  as  an  opening  of  politeness 
rather  than  of  curiosity. 

"  Zort  of  a  place  called  Perly crass,"  replied  the  wooden- 
legged  man,  who  was  sitting  on  a  barrel.  Manifestly  an 
ancient  sailor,  weather-beaten  and  taciturn,  the  residue  of 
a  strong  and  handsome  man. 

The  whole  of  this  had  been  as  nearly  to  the  carrier's 
liking  as  the  words  and  deeds  of  any  man  can  be  to  any 
other's.  Therefore,  before  another  mile  had  been  travelled, 
old  Hill  turned  round  again,  with  a  grin  still  sweeter. 

"  Pancake-day,  bain't  it  ?"  was  his  very  kind  inquiry. 

"  B'lieve  it  be,"  replied  the  other,  in  the  best  and  tru- 
est British  style.  After  this  no  more  was  lacking  to  se- 
cure old  Hill's  regard  than  the  very  thing  the  sailor  did. 
There  was  a  little  flap  of  canvas,  like  a  loophole  in  the  tilt, 
fitted  for  the  use  of  chawers  and  the  cleanliness  of  the 
floor.  Timberlegs,  after  using  this  with  much  delibera- 
tion and  great  skill,  made  his  way  forward,  and,  in  deep 
silence,  poked  old  Hill  with  his  open  tobacco-box.  If  it 
were  not  silver,  it  was  quite  as  good  to  look  at,  and  as 
bright  as  if  it  held  the  freedom  of  the  city ;  the  tobacco, 
moreover,  was  of  goodly  reek,  and  a  promise  of  inspira- 
tion such  as  never  flows  through  Custom-house. 

"  Thank  'e,  I'll  have  a  blade  bumbai.  Will  'e  zit  upon 
17 


386  PEELYCEOSS 

that  rope  of  onions  ?"  The  sailor  shook  his  head,  for  the 
rim  of  a  barrel,  though  apt  to  cut,  cuts  evenly  like  a  good 
school-master. 

"  'Long  of  Nelson  ?"  Master  Hill  inquired,  pointing  to 
the  places  where  the  feet  were  now  of  deputy.  The  old  tar 
nodded,  and  then,  with  that  sensitive  love  of  accuracy  which 
marks  the  tar,  growled  out,  "  Leastways,  wan  of  them." 

"  And  what  come  to  t'other  wan  ?"  Master  Hill  was 
capable  of  really  large  human  interest. 

"  Had  'un  off  to  square  the  spars,  and  for  zake  of  vam- 
ily."  He  had  no  desire  to  pursue  the  subject,  and  closed 
it  by  a  big  squirt  through  the  flap. 

Old  Hill  nodded  with  manly  approbation.  Plymouth 
was  his  birthplace,  and  he  knew  that  other  sons  of  Nel- 
son had  done  this,  for  it  balanced  their  bodies,  and  com- 
posed their  minds  with  another  five  shillings  a  week  for 
life,  and  the  sale  of  the  leg  covered  all  expenses. 

"  You'rn  a  very  ingenious  man" — he  glanced  as  he 
spoke  at  the  sailor's  jury-rig — "  I'll  war'n  no  doctor  could 
a'  vitted  'e  up  like  thiccy." 

"Vitted  'un  myself  with  double  swivel.  Can  make 
four  knots  an  hour  now.  They  doctors  can  undo  'e,  but 
'em  can't  do  'e  up.  A  cove  can't  make  sail  upon  a  truck- 
head." 

"And  what  do  'e  say  to  the  weather,  cap'n?"  Master 
Hill  inquired  of  his  passenger,  when  a  few  more  compli- 
ments had  passed,  and  the  manes  of  the  horses  began  to 
ruffle,  and  the  tilt  to  sway  and  rattle  with  the  waxing 
storm. 

"  Think  us  shall  have  as  big  a  gale  of  wind  as  ever  come 
out  of  the  heavens,"  the  sailor  replied,  after  stumping  to 
the  tail  of  the  van  and  gazing  windward ;  "  heave  to 
pretty  smart,  and  make  all  snug  afore  sunset,  is  my  ad- 
vice. Too  much  sail  on  this  here  little  craft  for  such  a 
blow  as  us  shall  have  to-night." 

"  Can't  stop  short  of  taunton  town."  Old  Hill  was 
famed  for  his  obstinacy. 

"  Can  'e  take  in  sail  ?  Can  'e  dowse  this  here  canvas  ? 
Can  'e  reef  it  then,  somehow  ?"  The  old  man  shook  his 
head.  "  Tell  'e  what  then,  shipmate,  if  'e  carry  on  for  six 
hours  more,  this  here  craft  will  be  on  her  beam-ends, 


A   FIGHTING   BOUT  387 

wi'out  mainsail  parteth  from  his  lashings,  sure  as  my  name 
is  Dick  Herniman." 

This  tar  of  the  old  school,  better  known  as  "  timber- 
legged  Dick,"  disembarked  from  the  craft,  whose  wreck  he 
had  thus  predicted,  at  a  turning  between  Perliton  and 
Perlycross,  and  stumped  away  up  a  narrow  lane  at  a  pace 
quite  equal  to  that  of  the  "  God-be-with-us "  van.  The 
horses  looked  after  him,  as  a  specimen  of  biped  hitherto 
beyond  their  experience ;  and  old  Hill  himself,  though  in- 
capable of  amazement  (which  is  a  rapid  process),  con- 
fessed that  there  were  some  advantages  in  this  form  of 
human  pedal,  as  well  as  fine  economy  of  cloth  and  leather. 

"  How  'a  doth  get  along,  nimbler  nor  I  could !"  the  car- 
rier reflected,  as  his  nags  drove  on  again.  "  Up  to  zum- 
mat  ratchety,  I'll  be  bound  he  be  now.  A  leary  old  salt 
as  ever  lived.  Never  laughed  once,  never  showed  a  smile, 
but  gotten  it  all  in  his  eyes  he  have  ;  and  the  eyes  be 
truer  folks  than  the  lips.  Enough  a'most  to  tempt  a  man 
to  cut  off  's  own  two  legses." 

Some  hours  later  than  this,  and  one  hour  later  than  the 
downfall  of  the  wrestler's  roof,  the  long  market-place, 
forming  one  side  of  the  street — a  low  narrow  building  set 
against  the  church-yard  wall,  between  the  school  and  the 
lych-gate — looked  as  dismal  and  dreary  and  deserted  as 
the  bitterest  enemy  of  fairs  could  wish.  The  torrents  of 
rain  and  fury  of  the  wind  had  driven  all  pleasure-seekers, 
in  a  grievously  drenched  and  battered  plight,  to  seek  for 
wiser  comfort ;  and  only  a  dozen  or  so  of  poor  creatures, 
either  too  tipsy  to  battle  with  the  wind  or  too  reckless  in 
their  rags  to  care  where  they  were,  wallowed  upon  sacks, 
and  scrabbled  under  the  stanchion-boards  where  the  gayety 
had  been.  The  main  gates,  buckled  back  upon  their 
heavy  hinges,  were  allowed  to  do  nothing  in  their  proper 
line  of  business  until  the  church -clock  should  strike 
twelve,  for  such  was  the  usage ;  though  as  usual  nobody 
had  ever  heard  who  ordained  it.  A  few  oil-lamps  were 
still  in  their  duty,  swinging  like  welted  horn-poppies  in 
the  draught,  and  shedding  a  pale  and  spluttering  light. 

The  man  who  bore  the  keys  had  gone  home  three  times, 
keeping  under  hele  with  his  oil-skins  on,  to  ask  his  wife, 
who  was  a  woman  of  some  mark,  whether  he  might  not 


388  PEKLYCKOSS 

lock  the  gates,  and  come  home  and  have  his  bit  of  bacon. 
But  she  having  strong  sense  of  duty,  and  a  good  log  blaz- 
ing, and  her  cup  of  tea,  had  allowed  him  very  generously 
to  warm  his  hands  a  little,  and  then  begged  him  to  think 
of  his  family.  This  was  the  main  thing  that  he  had  to 
do ;  and  he  went  forth  again  into  the  dark  to  do  it. 

Meanwhile,  without  anybody  to  take  heed  (for  the  ser- 
geant, ever  vigilant,  was  now  on  guard  in  Spain),  a  small 
but  choice  company  of  human  beings  was  preparing  for 
action  in  the  old  school-porch,  which  stood  at  the  back  of 
the  building.  Staffs  they  had,  and  handcuffs  too,  and 
supple  straps,  and  loops  of  cord ;  all  being  men  of  some 
learning  in  the  law,  and  the  crooked  ways  of  people  out 
of  harmony  therewith.  If  there  had  been  light  enough 
to  understand  a  smile,  they  would  have  smiled  at  one 
another,  so  positive  were  they  that  they  had  an  easy  job, 
and  so  grudgeful  that  the  money  should  cut  up  so  small. 
The  two  worthy  constables  of  Perlycross  felt  certain  that 
they  could  do  it  better  by  themselves,  and  the  four  in- 
voked from  Perliton  were  vexed  to  have  to  act  with  village 
lubbers.  Their  orders  were  not  to  go  nigh  the  wrestling, 
or  show  themselves  inside  the  market-place,  but  to  keep 
themselves  quiet  and  shun  the  weather,  and  what  was  a 
great  deal  worse,  the  beer.  Every  now  and  then  the  ideas 
of  jolly  noises,  such  as  were  appropriate  to  the  time,  were 
borne  upon  the  rollicking  wings  of  the  wind  into  their 
silent  vestibule,  suggesting  some  wiping  of  lips,  which, 
alas,  were  ever  so  much  too  dry  already.  At  a  certain 
signal  they  were  all  to  hasten  across  the  corner  of  the 
church-yard  at  the  back  of  the  market-place,  and  enter  a 
private  door  at  the  east  end  of  the  building,  after  passing 
through  the  lych-gate. 

Suddenly  the  rain  ceased,  as  if  at  sound  of  trumpet ; 
like  the  mouth  of  a  cavern  the  sky  flew  open,  and  the 
wind,  leaping  three  points  of  the  compass,  rushed  upon 
the  world  from  the  chambers  of  the  west.  Such  a  blast 
as  had  never  been  felt  before  filled  the  whole  valley  of 
the  Perle,  and  flung  mowstack  and  oakwood,  farm-house 
and  abbey,  under  the  sweep  of  its  wings  as  it  flew.  The 
roar  of  the  air  overpowered  the  crash  of  the  ruin  it  made, 
and  left  no  man  the  sound  of  his  own  voice  to  himself. 


A    FIGHTING    BOUT  389 

These  great  swoops  of  wind  always  lighten  the  sky,  and 
as  soon  as  the  people  blown  down  could  get  up  they  were 
able  to  see  the  church-tower  still  upright,  though  many 
men  swore  that  they  heard  it  go  rock.  Very  likely  it 
rocked,  but  could  they  have  heard  it? 

In  the  thick  of  the  din  of  this  awful  night,  when  the 
church-clock  struck  only  five  instead  of  ten — and  it  might 
have  struck  fifty  without  being  heard — three  men  managed, 
one  by  one,  and  without  any  view  of  one  another,  to  creep 
along  the  creases  of  the  storm  and  gain  the  gloomy  shel- 
ter of  the  market-place.  "  Every  man  for  himself  "  is 
the  universal  law  when  the  heavens  are  against  the  whole 
race  of  us.  Not  one  of  these  men  cared  to  ask  about  the 
condition  of  the  other  two,  nor  even  expected  much  to 
see  them,  though  each  was  more  resolute  to  be  there  him- 
self, because  of  its  being  so  difficult. 

"  Very  little  chance  of  Timberlegs,  to-night,"  said  one 
to  another,  as  two  of  them  stood  in  deep  shadow  against 
the  back  wall,  where  a  voice  could  be  heard  if  pitched  in 
the  right  direction ;  "  he  could  never  make  way  again'  a 
starm  like  this." 

"  Thou  bee'st  a  liar,"  replied  a  gruff  voice,  as  the  clank 
of  metal  on  the  stone  was  heard.  "Timberlegs  can  goo 
where  flesh  and  bone  be  mollichops."  He  carried  a  staff 
like  a  long  handspike,  and  prodded  the  biped  on  his  need- 
less feet  to  make  him  wish  to  be  relieved  of  them. 

"  Us  be  all  here  now,"  said  the  third  man,  who  seemed 
in  the  wavering  gloom  to  fill  half  the  place.  "What  hast 
thou  brought  us  for,  Timber-leg'd  Dick  ?" 

"  Bit  of  a  job,  same  as  three  months  back.  Better  than 
clam-pits,  worn't  it  now  ?  Got  a  good  offer  for  thee,  too, 
Harvey,  for  that  old  ramshackle  place.  Handy  hole  for  a 
louderin'  job,  and  not  far  from  them  clam-pits." 

"  Aye,  so  a'  be.  Never  thought  of  that.  And  must 
have  another  coney,  now  they  wise  'uns  have  vound  out 
Nigger's  Nock.  Lor'  what  a  laugh  we  had,  Jem  and  I,  at 
they  fules  of  Perlycrass  !" 

"Then  Perlycross  will  have  the  laugh  at  thee.  Harvey 
Tremlett  and  James  Kettel,  I  arrest  'e  both  in  the  name 
of  his  Majesty  the  King." 

Six  able  -  bodied  men  (who  had  entered  unheard  in  the 


390  PERLYCEOSS 

roar  of  the  gale,  and  unseen  in  the  gloom)  stood  with 
drawn  staves,  heels  together,  and  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in 
a  semicircle,  enclosing  the  three  conspirators. 

"  Read  thy  warrant  aloud,"  said  Dick  Herniman,  strik- 
ing his  handspike  upon  the  stones,  and  taking  command 
in  right  of  intellect,  while  the  other  twain  laid  their  backs 
against  the  wall  and  held  themselves  ready  for  the  issue. 

Dick  had  hit  a  very  hard  nail  on  the  head.  None  of 
these  constables  had  been  young  enough  to  undergo  Ser- 
geant Jakes,  and  thenceforth  defy  the  most  lofty  examiner. 

"  Didn't  hear  what  'e  zed,"  replied  the  head  -  constable, 
making  excuse  of  the  wind,  which  had  blown  him  but  lit- 
tle of  the  elements.  But  he  lowered  his  staff,  and  held 
a  consultation. 

"  Then  I  zay  it  again,"  shouted  Timber-legged  Dick, 
stumping  forth  with  a  power  of  learning,  for  he  had  picked 
up  good  leisure  in  hospitals ;  "  if  thou  representest  the 
King,  read  his  Majesty's  words,  afore  taking  his  name 
in  vain." 

These  six  men  were  ready  and  resolute  enough  to  meet 
any  bodily  conflict,  but  the  literary  crisis  scared  them. 

"  Can  'e  do  it,  Jack?"  " Don't  know  as  I  can."  "  Wish 
my  boy  Bill  was  here."  "  Don't  run  in  my  line  "  —  and 
so  on. 

"  If  none  on  'e  knows  what  he  be  about,"  said  the  man 
with  the  best  legs  to  stand  upon,  advancing  into  the  midst 
of  them,  "  I  know  a  deal  of  the  law,  and  I  tell  'e  as  a 
friend  of  the  King,  who  hath  lost  two  legs  for  'un  in  the 
Royal  Navy,  there  can't  be  no  lawful  arrest  made  here. 
And  the  liberty  of  the  subject  cometh  in  the  same  as  a 
doth  again'  highwaymen.  Harvey  Tremlett  and  Jem 
Kettel,  the  law  be  on  your  side  to  <  protect  the  liberty  of 
the  subject.'  " 

This  was  enough  for  the  pair  who  had  stood,  as  law- 
abiding  Englishmen,  against  the  wall,  with  their  big  fists 
doubled  and  their  great  hearts  doubting.  "  Here  goo'th 
for  the  liberty  of  the  subject,"  cried  Harvey  Trernlett, 
striding  forth;  "I  sha'n't  strike  none  as  don't  strike  me. 
But  if  V  doth,  a'  must  look  out." 

The  constables  wavered,  in  fear  of  the  law  and  doubt  of 
their  own  duty ;  for  they  had  often  heard  that  every  man 


A    FIGHTING    BOUT  391 

had  a  right  to  know  what  he  was  arrested  for.  Unluckily 
one  of  them  made  a  blow  with  his  staff  at  Harvey  Trein- 
lett ;  then  he  dropped  on  the  flags  with  a  clump  in  his  ear, 
and  the  fight  in  a  moment  was  raging. 

Somebody  knocked  Jemmy  Kettel  on  the  head  as  being 
more  easy  to  deal  with,  and  then  the  blood  of  the  big 
man  rose.  Three  stout  fellows  fell  upon  him  all  together, 
and  heavy  blows  rung  on  the  drum  of  his  chest  from 
truncheons  plied  like  wheel-spokes.  Forth  flew  his  fist- 
clubs  right  and  left,  one  of  them  meeting  a  staff  in  the  air 
and  shattering  it  back  into  its  owner's  face.  Never  was 
the  peace  of  the  King  more  broken ;  no  man  could  see 
what  became  of  his  blows,  legs  and  arms  went  about  like 
windmills,  substance  and  shadow  were  all  as  one,  till  the 
substance  rolled  upon  the  ground  and  groaned. 

This  dark  fight  resembled  the  clashing  of  a  hedge-row 
in  the  fury  of  a  midnight  storm,  when  the  wind  has  got  in 
and  cannot  get  out,  when  ground-ash  and  sycamore,  pole, 
stub,  and  sapling  are  dashing  and  whirling  against  one  an- 
other, and  even  the  sturdy  oak-tree  in  the  trough  is  sway- 
ing and  creaking  and  swinging  on  its  bole. 

"  Zoonder  not  to  kill  e'er  a  wan  of  'e,  I  'ood.  But  by 
the  Lord,  if  'e  comes  they  byses,"  shouted  Harvey  Trem- 
lett,  as  a  rope  was  thrown  over  his  head  from  behind,  but 
cut  in  half  a  second  by  Herniman — "more  of  'e,  be  there?" 
as  the  figures  thickened  —  "  have  at  'e  then,  wi'  zummat 
more  harder  nor  visties  be !" 

He  wrenched  from  a  constable  his  staff  and  strode  on- 
ward, being  already  near  the  main  gate  now.  As  he 
whirled  the  heavy  truncheon  round  his  head  the  constables 
hung  back,  having  two  already  wounded,  and  one  in  the 
grip  of  reviving  Jem,  who  was  rolling  on  the  floor  with 
him.  "  Zurrender  to  his  Majesty !"  they  called  out,  pre- 
ferring the  voluntary  system. 

"  A  varden  for  the  lot  of  'e !"  the  big  man  said,  and  he 
marched  in  a  manner  that  presented  it. 

But  not  so  did  he  walk  off,  blameless  and  respectable. 
He  had  kept  his  temper  wonderfully,  believing  the  law  to 
be  on  his  side,  after  all  he  had  done  for  the  county. 

Now  his  nature  was  pressed  a  little  too  hard  for  itself, 
when  just  as  he  called  out — "Coorn  along,  Jem;  there  be 


392  PERLYCROSS 

nort  to  stop  'e,  Timberlegs,"  retiring  his  forces  with  hon- 
our— two  figures,  hitherto  out  of  the  moil,  stood  across 
him  at  the  mouth  of  exit. 

"  Who  be  you  ?"  he  asked,  with  his  anger  in  a  flame, 
for  they  showed  neither  staff  of  the  King  nor  warrant. 
"  Volunteers,  be  'e  ?  Have  a  care  what  be  about." 

"  Harvey  Tremlett,  here  you  stop,"  said  a  tall  man, 
square  in  front  of  him.  But,  luckily  for  his  life,  the  lift 
of  the  sky  showed  his  hair  was  silvery. 

"  Never  hits  an  old  man.  You  lie  there ;"  Tremlett 
took  him  with  his  left  hand,  and  laid  him  on  the  stones. 
But  meanwhile  the  other  flung  his  arms  around  his 
waist. 

"  Wult  have  a  zettler?  Then  thee  shall,"  cried  the  big 
man,  tearing  him  out  like  a  child,  and  swinging  his  trun- 
cheon for  to  knock  him  on  the  head,  and  Jemmy  Fox  felt 
that  his  time  was  come. 

Down  came  the  truncheon  like  a  paviour's  rammer,  and 
brains  would  have  weltered  on  the  floor  like  suds,  but  a 
stout  arm  dashed  across  and  received  the  crash  descending. 

"  Pumpkins !"  cried  the  smiter,  wondering  much  what  he 
had  smitten,  as  two  bodies  rolled  between  his  legs  and  on 
the  stones.  "  Coom  along,  Jemmy  boy.  Nare  a  wan  to 
stop  V 

The  remnant  of  the  constables  upon  their  legs  fell  back. 
The  Lord  was  against  them.  They  had  done  their  best. 
The  next  job  for  them  was  to  heal  their  wounds,  and  get 
an  allowance  for  them  if  they  could. 

Now  the  human  noise  was  over,  but  the  wind  roared  on, 
and  the  rushing  of  the  clouds  let  the  stars  look  down 
again.  Tremlett  stood  victorious  in  the  middle  of  the 
gateway.  Hurry  was  a  state  of  mind  beyond  his  under- 
standing. Was  everybody  satisfied  ?  Well,  no  one  came 
for  more.  He  took  an  observation  of  the  weather,  and 
turned  round. 

"  Sha'n't  bide  here  no  longer,"  he  announced.  "  Dick, 
us  '11  vinish  up  our  clack  to  my  place.  Rain  be  droud  up, 
and  I  be  off." 

"  No,  Harvey  Tremlett,  you  will  not  be  off.  You  will 
stay  here  like  a  man,  and  stand  your  trial." 

Mr.   Penniloe's  hand  was  upon  his  shoulder,  and  the 


A.   FIGHTING    BOUT  393 

light  of  the  stars,  thrown  in  vaporous  waves,  showed  the 
pale  face  firmly  regarding  him. 

"  Well,  and  if  I  says  no  to  it,  what  can  'e  do  ?" 

"  Hold  you  by  the  collar,  as  my  duty  is."  The  parson 
set  his  teeth,  and  his  delicate  white  fingers  tightened  their 
not  very  formidable  grasp. 

"  Sesh  !"  said  the  big  man,  with  a  whistle,  and  making 
as  if  he  could  not  move.  "  When  -a  man  be  baten,  a'  must 
gie  in.  Wun't  'e  let  me  goo,  passon  ?  Do  'e  let  me  goo." 

"  Tremlett,  my  duty  is  to  hold  you  fast.  I  owe  it  to  a 
dear  friend  of  mine,  as  well  as  to  my  parish." 

"  Well,  you  be  a  braver  man  than  most  of  'em,  I  zim- 
meth.  But  do  'e  tell  a  poor  chap,  as  have  no  chance  at 
all  wi'  'e,  what  a'  hath  dooed,  to  be  lawed  for  'un  so  crule 
now." 

"  Prisoner,  as  if  you  did  not  know.  You  are  charged 
with  breaking  open  Colonel  Waldron's  grave,  and  carry- 
ing off  his  body." 

"  O  Lord !  O  Lord  in  heaven  !"  shouted  Harvey 
Tremlett.  "  Jem  Kettel,  hark  to  thiccy  !  Timberlegs,  do 
'e  hear  thic  ?  All  they  blessed  constables,  as  has  got  their 
bellyful,  and  ever  so  many  wise  gen'lemen  too,  what  do  'e 
think  'em  be  arter  us  for  ?  Arter  us  for  resurrectioneer- 
ing!  Never  heered  tell  such  a  joke  in  all  my  life.  They 
hosebirds  to  Ivy-bush  cries  '  Carnwall  forever  !'  But  I'm 
blest  if  I  don't  cry  out  *  Perlycrass  forever !'  O  Lord, 
O  Lord !  Was  there  ever  such  a  joke  ?  Don't  'e  hold 
me,  sir,  for  half  a  minute,  just  while  I  has  out  my  laugh — 
fear  I  should  be  too  heavy  for  'e." 

Timber-legged  Dick  came  up  to  his  side,  and  not  being 
of  the  laughing  kind, .made  up  for  it  by  a  little  hornpipe 
in  the  lee ;  his  metal  feet  striking,  from  the  flints  pitched 
there,  sparks  enough  to  light  a  dozen  pipes  ;  while  Kettel, 
though  damaged  severely  about  the  mouth,  was  still  able 
to  compass  a  broad  and  loud  guffaw. 

"  Prisoners,"  Mr.  Penniloe  said,  severely,  for  he  dis- 
liked the  ridicule  of  his  parish,  "  this  is  not  at  all  a  mat- 
ter to  be  laughed  at.  The  evidence  against  you  is  very 
strong,  I  fear." 

"  Zurrender,  zurrender  to  his  Majesty  the  King ! " 
cried  Tremlett,  being  never  much  at  argument.  "  Consta- 
17* 


394  PERLYCROSS 

bles,  if  'ee  can  goo,  take  charge.  But  I  'ont  have  no 
handicuffs,  mind.  Wudn't  a  gie'd  'ee  a  clout,  if  I  had 
knawed  it.  Zarve  'ee  right,  though,  for  not  rading  of  thic 
warrant-paper.  Jemmy,  boy,  you  zurrender  to  the  King, 
and  I  be  passon's  prisoner.  Honour  bright  fust  though 
— nort  to  come  agin'  us,  unless  a'  be  zet  down  in  warrant- 
papper.  Passon,  thee  must  gi'e  thy  word  for  that.  Tim- 
berlegs,  coom  along  for  layyer." 

"  Certainly,  I  give  my  word,  as  far  as  it  will  go,  that  no 
other  charge  shall  be  brought  against  you.  The  warrant 
is  issued  for  that  crime  only.  Prove  yourselves  guiltless 
of  that,  and  you  are  free." 

"  Us  won't  be  very  long  in  prison  then.  A  day  or  two 
bain't  much  odds  to  we." 


CHAPTER    XXXVII 
GENTLE     AS     A     LAMB 

OF  the  nine  people  wounded  in  that  Agoraic  struggle, 
which  cast  expiring  lustre  on  the  fairs  of  Perly cross, 
every  one  found  his  case  most  serious  to  himself,  and  still 
more  so  to  his  wife,  and  even  solemn  in  the  presence  of 
those  who  had  to  settle  compensation.  Herniman  had 
done  some  execution,  as  well  as  received  a  nasty  splinter 
of  one  leg,  which  broke  down  after  his  hornpipe  ;  and 
Kettel  had  mauled  the  man  who  rolled  over  with  him.  But, 
as  appeared  when  the  case  was  heard,  Tremlett  had  by  no 
means  done  his  best ;  and  his  lawyer  put  it  touchingly 
and  with  great  effect  that  he  was  loath  to  smite  the  sons 
of  his  native  country,  when  he  had  just  redeemed  their 
glory  by  noble  discomfiture  of  Cornwall. 

One  man  only  had  a  parlous  wound  ;  and,  as  is  generally 
ordained  in  human  matters,  this  was  the  one  most  impartial 
of  all,  the  one  who  had  no  interest  of  his  own  to  serve, 
the  one  who  was  present  simply  out  of  pure  benevolence, 
and  a  Briton's  love  of  order.  So  at  least  his  mother  said, 
and  every  one  acknowledged  that  she  was  a  woman  of 
high  reasoning  powers.  Many  others  felt  for  him,  as  who 
would  have  done  the  same,  with  like  opportunity. 

For  only  let  a  healthy,  strong,  and  earnest- minded 
Englishman — to  use  a  beloved  compound  epithet  of  the 
day — hear  of  a  hot  and  lawful  fight  impending,  with  peo- 
ple involved  in  it  of  whom  he  has  some  knowledge,  and 
we  may  trust  him  heartily  to  be  there  or  thereabouts  to 
see — as  he  puts  it  to  his  conscience — fair  play.  But  an 
if  he  chance  to  be  in  love  just  then,  with  a  very  large 
percentage  of  despair  to  reckon  up,  and  one  of  the  com- 
batants is  in  the  count  against  him,  can  a  doubt  remain 
of  his  eager  punctuality  ? 


396  PERLYCBOSS 

This  was  poor  Frank  Gilham's  case.  Dr.  Gronow  was 
a  prudent  man,  and  liked  to  have  the  legions  on  his  side. 
He  perceived  that  young  Frank  was  a  stanch  and  stal- 
wart fellow,  sure  to  strike  a  good  blow  on  a  friend's  be- 
half. He  was  well  aware,  also,  of  his  love  for  Christie, 
and  could  not  see  why  it  should  come  to  nothing,  while 
Jemmy  Fox's  faith  in  the  resources  of  the  law,  and  in  his 
own  prowess  as  a  power  in  reserve,  were  not  so  convinc- 
ing to  the  elder  mind.  "  Better  make  sure  than  be  too 
certain,"  was  a  favourite  maxim  of  this  shrewd  old  stager ; 
and  so,  without  Jemmy's  knowledge,  he  invited  Frank  to 
keep  out  of  sight  unless  wanted. 

This  measure  saved  the  life  of  Dr.  Fox,  and  that  of 
Harvey  Tremlett  too,  some  of  whose  brothers  had  adorned 
the  gallows.  Even  as  it  was,  Jemmy  Fox  lay  stunned, 
with  the  other  man's  arm  much  inserted  in  his  hat. 
Where  he  would  have  been  without  that  buffer,  the  cher- 
ub who  sits  on  the  chimney-pots  of  Harley  Street  alone 
can  say'.  Happily  the  other  doctor  was  unhurt,  and  left 
in  full  possession  of  his  wits,  which  he  at  once  exerted. 
After  examining  the  wounded  yeoman,  who  had  fainted 
from  the  pain  and  shock,  he  borrowed  a  mattress  from 
the  rectory,  a  spring-cart  and  truss  of  hay  from  Channing 
the  baker,  and  various  other  appliances ;  and  thus,  in  spite 
of  the  storm,  conveyed  both  patients  to  the  hospital.  This 
was  the  Old  Barn  itself,  because  all  surgical  needs  would 
be  forthcoming  there  more  readily,  and  so  it  was  wiser  to 
decline  Mr.  Penniloe's  offer  of  the  rectory. 

With  the  jolting  of  the  cart,  and  the  freshness  of  the 
air,  ]?ox  began  to  revive  ere  long ;  and  though  still  very 
weak  and  dizzy,  was  able  to  be  of  some  service  at  his 
own  dwelling-place ;  and  although  he  might  not,  when 
this  matter  first  arose,  have  shown  all  the  gratitude 
which  the  sanguine  do  expect  in  return  for  Frank  Gil- 
ham's  loyalty,  he  felt  very  deep  contrition  now,  when 
he  saw  this  frightful  fracture,  and  found  his  own  head 
quite  uncracked. 

The  six  constables,  though  they  had  some  black  eyes, 
bruised  limbs,  and  broken  noses,  and  other  sources  of  re- 
gret, were  (in  strict  matter  of  fact,  and  without  any  view 
to  compensation)  quite  as  well  as  could  be  expected. 


GENTLE    AS    A    LAMB  397 

And  as  happens  too  often,  the  one  who  groaned  the  most 
had  the  least  occasion  for  it.  It  was  only  the  wick  of  a 
lamp  that  had  dropped,  without  going  out,  on  this  man's 
collar,  and  burned  a  little  hole  in  his  niddick,  as  it  used  to 
be  called  in  Devonshire. 

Tremlett  readily  gave  his  word  that  no  escape  should 
be  attempted ;  and  when  Mrs.  Muggridge  came  to  know 
that  this  was  the  young  man  who  had  saved  her  master, 
nothing  could  be  too  good  for  him.  So  constables  and 
prisoners  were  fed  and  cared  for,  and  stowed  for  the  night 
in  the  long  school-room,  with  hailstones  hopping  in  the 
fireplace. 

In  the  morning  the  weather  was  worse  again ;  for  this 
was  a  double-barrelled  gale,  as  an  ignorant  man  might 
term  it ;  or  rather  perhaps  two  several  gales,  arising 
from  some  vast  disturbance  and  hitting  into  one  an- 
other. Otherwise,  why  should  it  be  known  and  remem- 
bered even  to  the  present  day,  as  the  great  Ash- Wed- 
nesday gale,  although  it  began  on  Shrove-Tuesday,  and 
in  many  parts  raged  most  fiercely  then.  At  Perlycross 
certainly  there  was  no  such  blast  upon  the  second  day 
as  that  which  swept  the  Abbey  down ;  when  the  wind 
leaped  suddenly  to  the  west,  and  the  sky  fell  open,  as 
above  observed. 

Upon  that  wild  Ash- Wednesday  forenoon  the  curate 
stood  in  the  church-yard  mourning,  even  more  than  the 
melancholy  date  requires.  Where  the  old  Abbey  had 
stood  for  ages  (backing  up  the  venerable  church  with 
grand,  dark-robed  solemnity,  and  lifting  the  buckler  of 
ancient  faith  above  many  a  sleeping  patriarch)  there  was 
nothing  but  a  hideous  gap,  with  murky  clouds  galloping 
over  it.  Shorn  of  its  ivy  curtain  by  the  tempest  of  last 
Sunday,  the  mighty  frame  had  reeled  and  staggered,  and 
with  one  crash  gone  to  ground  last  night  before  the  im- 
petuous welkin's  weight. 

"Is  all  I  do  to  be  always  vain,  and  worse  than  vain — 
destructive,  hurtful,  baneful,  fatal  I  might  say,  to  the  very 
objects  for  which  I  strive  ?  Here  is  the  church,  unfinished, 
leaky,  with  one  of  its  corners  gone  underground,  and  the 
grand  stone  screen  smashed  in  two ;  here  is  the  Abbey,  or 
alas  not  here,  but  only  an  ugly  pile  of  stones !  Here  is 


398  PERLYCKOSS 

the  outrage  to  my  dear  friend,  and  the  shame  to  the  parish 
as  black  as  ever ;  for  those  men  clearly  know  nothing  of  it. 
And  here,  or  at  any  rate  close  at  hand,  the  sad  drawback 
upon  all  good  works  ;  for  at  Lady-day  in  pour  the  bills, 
and  my  prayers  (however  earnest)  will  not  pay  them.  It 
has  pleased  the  Lord,  in  His  infinite  wisdom,  to  leave  me 
very  short  of  cash." 

Unhappily,  his  best  hat  had  been  spoiled  in  that  inter- 
view with  the  four  vergers  ;  and  in  his  humility  he  was  not 
sure  that  the  one  on  his  head  was  good  enough  even  to  go 
to  the  commination  service.  However,  it  need  not  have 
felt  unworthy ;  for  there  was  not  a  soul  in  the  church  to 
be  adjured,  save  thLt  which  had  been  under  its  own  brim. 
The  clerk  was  off  for  Perliton,  swearing — even  at  his  time 
of  life  ! — that  he  had  been  subpoenaed,  as  if  that  could  be 
on  such  occasion  ;  and  as  for  the  pupils,  all  bound  to  be  in 
church,  the  Hopper  had  been  ordered  by  the  constables  to 
present  himself  to  the  magistrates  (though  all  the  consta- 
bles denied  it),  and  Pike  and  Mopuss  felt  it  their  duty  to 
go  with  him. 

In  a  word,  all  Perlycross  was  off,  though  services  of  the 
church  had  not  yet  attained  their  present  continuity ;  and 
though  every  woman  and  even  man  had  to  plod  three  wet 
miles,  with  the  head  on  the  chest,  in  the  teeth  of  the  gale 
up  the  river.  How  they  should  get  into  the  room  when 
there  was  a  question  that  never  occurred  to  them.  There 
they  all  yearned  to  be ;  and  the  main  part,  who  could  not 
raise  a  shilling,  or  prove  themselves  uncles  or  aunts  or 
former  sweethearts  of  the  two  constables  who  kept  the 
door,  had  to  crouch  under  dripping  shrubs  outside  the 
windows,  and  spoiled  all  Squire  Mockham's  young  cro- 
cusses. 

That  gentleman  was  so  upright,  and  thoroughly  impar- 
tial, that  to  counteract  his  own  predilections  for  a  cham- 
pion wrestler,  he  had  begged  a  brother-magistrate  to  come 
and  sit  with  him  on  this  occasion  ;  not  Sir  Edwin  Sanford, 
who  was  of  the  quorum  for  Somerset,  but  a  man  of  some 
learning  and  high  esteem,  the  well-known  Dr.  Morshead. 
Thus  there  would  be  less  temptation  for  any  tattler  to  cry 
"hole  and  corner,"  as  spiteful  folk  rejoice  to  do,  while 
keeping  in  that  same  place  themselves.  Although  there 


GENTLE    AS    A    LAMB  399 

was  less  perhaps  of  mischief-making  in  those  days  than 
now ;  and  there  could  be  no  more. 

The  constables  marched  in,  with  puff  and  blow,  like  vic- 
tors over  rebels,  and  as  if  they  had  carried  the  prisoners 
captive  every  yard  of  the  way  from  Perlycross.  All  of 
them  began  to  talk  at  once,  and  to  describe  with  more 
vigour  than  truth  the  conflict  of  the  night  before.  But 
Dr.  Morshead  stopped  them  short,  for  the  question  of  re- 
sistance was  not  yet  raised.  What  the  Bench  had  first  to 
decide  was  whether  a  case  could  be  made  out  for  a  mitti- 
mus, in  pursuance  of  the  warrant,  to  the  next  Petty  Ses- 
sions on  Monday  ;  whence  the  prisoners  would  be  remitted 
probably  to  the  Quarter  Sessions. 

The  two  accused  stood  side  by  side  (peaceful  and  de- 
corous, as  if  they  were  accustomed  to  it),  and  without  any 
trepidation  admitted  their  identity.  It  was  rather  against 
their  interests  that  the  official  clerk  was  absent — this  not 
being  a  stated  meeting,  but  held  for  special  purpose — for 
magistrates  used  to  be  a  little  nervous,  without  their  prop- 
er adviser ;  and  in  fear  of  permitting  the  guilty  to  es- 
cape, they  sometimes  remanded  upon  insufficient  grounds. 

In  the  present  case  there  was  nothing  whatever  to  con- 
nect these  two  men  with  the  crime  except  the  testimony 
of  Joe  Crang,  and  what  might  be  regarded  as  their  own 
admission,  overheard  by  Dr.  Fox.  The  latter  was  not  in 
court,  nor  likely  so  to  be  ;  and  as  for  the  blacksmith's  evi- 
dence, however  positive  it  might  be,  what  did  it  amount 
to  ?  And  such  as  it  was,  it  was  torn  to  rags  through  the 
quaking  of  the  deponent. 

For  a  sharp  little  lawyer  started  up,  as  lawyers  are  sure 
to  do  everywhere,  and  crossed  the  room  to  where  Herni- 
man  sat,  drumming  the  floor  with  metallic  power,  and  look- 
ing very  stolid.  But  a  glance  had  convinced  the  keen  at- 
torney that  here  were  the  brains  of  the  party,  and  a  few 
short  whispers  settled  it.  "  Guinea,  if  'e  gets  'em  off ;  if 
not,  ne'er  a  farden."  "  Right !"  said  the  lawyer,  and  an- 
nounced himself. 

"  Blickson,  for  the  defence,  your  worships  —  Maurice 
Blickson  of  Silverton."  The  proper  bows  were  inter- 
changed, and  then  came  Crang's  excruciation.  Already 
this  sturdy  and  very  honest  fellow  was,  as  he  elegantly 


400  PERLYCROSS 

described  it,  in  a  "  lantern  -  sweat "  of  terror.  It  is  one 
thing  to  tell  a  tale  to  two  friends  in  a  potato-field,  and  an- 
other to  narrate  the  same  on  oath,  with  four  or  five. quills 
making  unknown  strides,  two  most  worshipful  signors 
bending  brows  of  doubt  upon  you,  and  thirty  or  forty 
faces  scowling,  at  every  word — "  What  a  liar  you  be  !" 
And  when  on  the  top  of  all  this  stands  up  a  noble  gen- 
tleman with  keen  eyes,  peremptory  voice,  contemptuous 
smiles,  and  angry  gestures,  all  expressing  his  Christian 
sorrow  that  the  devil  should  have  so  got  hold  of  you — what 
blacksmith,  even  of  poetic  anvil  (whence  all  rhythm  and 
metre  spring),  can  have  any  breath  left  in  his  own  bellows  ? 

Joe  Crang  had  fallen  on  his  knees  to  take  the  oath,  as 
witnesses  did,  from  a  holy  belief  that  this  turned  the 
rungs  of  the  gallows  the  wrong  way ;  and  then  he  had 
told  his  little  tale  most  sadly,  as  one  who  hopes  never  to 
be  told  of  it  again.  His  business  had  thriven,  while  his 
health  was  undermined,  through  the  scores  of  good  peo- 
ple who  could  rout  up  so  much  as  a  knife  that  wanted  a 
rivet,  or  even  a  boy  with  one  tooth  pushing  up  another ; 
and  though  none  of  them  paid  more  than  fourpence  for 
things  that  would  last  them  a  fortnight  to  talk  about,  their 
money  stayed  under  the  thatch,  while  Joe  spent  nothing 
but  a  wink  for  all  his  beer. 

But  ah,  this  was  no  winking  time !  Crang  was  begin- 
ning to  shuffle  off  with  his  knuckles  to  his  forehead,  and 
recovering  his  mind  so  loudly  that  he  got  in  a  word  about 
the  quality  of  his  iron — which  for  the  rest  of  his  life  he 
would  have  cited,  to  show  how  he  beat  they  justesses — 
when  he  found  himself  recalled,  and  told  to  put  his  feet 
together.  This,  from  long  practice  of  his  art,  had  become 
a  difficulty  to  him,  and  in  laboring  to  do  it  he  lost  all  pos- 
sibility of  bringing  his  wits  into  the  like  position.  This 
order  showed  Blickson  to  be  almost  a  Verulam  in  his 
knowledge  of  mankind.  Joe  Crang  recovered  no  self-pos- 
session on  his  own  side  of  better  than  a  gallon  strong. 

"  Blacksmith,  what  o'clock  is  it  now  ?" 

Crang  put  his  ears  up,  as  if  he  expected  the  church-clock 
to  come  to  his  aid ;  and  then  with  a  rally  of  what  he  was 
hoping  for  as  soon  as  he  got  round  the  corner,  replied, 
"  Four  and  a  half,  your  honour." 


GENTLE    AS    A    LAMB  401 

"  I  need  not  remind  your  worships,"  said  Blickson, 
when  the  laughter  had  subsided,  "  that  this  fellow's  evi- 
dence, even  if  correct,  proves  nothing  whatever  against 
my  clients  ;  but  just  to  show  what  it  is  worth,  I  will,  with 
your  worships'  permission,  put  a  simple  question  to  him. 
He  has  sworn  that  it  was  two  o'clock  on  a  foggy  morn- 
ing, and  with  no  church-clock  to  help  him,  when  he  saw 
in  his  nightmare  this  ghostly  vision.  Perhaps  he  should 
have  said  —  *  four  and  a  half ' ;  which  in  broad  day- 
light is  his  idea  of  the  present  hour.  Now,  my  poor  fel- 
low, did  you  swear,  or  did  you  not,  on  a  previous  occa- 
sion, that  one  of  the  men  who  so  terrified  you  out  of  your 
heavy  sleep  was  Dr.  James  Fox — a  gentleman,  Dr.  Mors- 
head,  of  your  own  distinguished  profession.  Don't  shuffle 
with  your  feet,  Crang,  nor  yet  with  your  tongue.  Did 
you  swear  that,  or  did  you  not  ?" 

"  Well,  if  I  did,  twadn't  arkerate." 

"  In  plain  English,  you  perjured  yourself  on  that  occa- 
sion, and  yet  you  expect  their  worships  to  believe  you 
now !  Now  look  at  the  other  man,  the  tall  one.  By 
which  of  his  features  do  you  recognize  him  now,  at  four 
and  a  half  in  the  morning  ?" 

"Dun'now  what  veitchers  be.  Knows  'un  by  his  size 
and  manner  of  standin'.  Should  like  to  hear  's  voice,  if 
no  object  to  you,  layyer." 

'*  My  friend,  you  call  me  by  your  own  name.  Such  is 
your  confusion  of  ideas.  Will  your  Worships  allow  me  to 
assist  this  poor  numskull  ?  The  great  Cornish  wrestler  is 
here,  led  by  that  noble  fraternal  feeling  which  is  such  a 
credit  to  all  men  distinguished  in  any  walk  of  life.  Mr. 
Polwarth  of  Bodmin,  will  you  kindly  stand  by  the  side  of 
your  brother  in  a  very  noble  art?" 

It  was  worth  a  long  journey  in  bad  weather  (as  Squire 
Mockham  told  his  guests  at  his  dinner  -  party  after- 
wards, and  Dr.  Morshead  and  his  son  confirmed  it)  to 
see  the  two  biggest  growths  of  Devonshire  and  of  Corn- 
wall standing  thus  amicably  side  by  side,  smiling  a  little 
slyly  at  each  other,  and  blinking  at  their  worships  with 
some  abashment,  as  if  to  say,  "  this  is  not  quite  in  our 
line." 

For  a  moment  the  audience  forgot  itself,  and  made  it- 


402  PERLYCROSS 

self  audible  with  three  loud  cheers.  "  Silence !"  cried 
their  worships,  but  not  so  very  sternly. 

"  Reckon  I  could  drow  'e  next  time,"  said  Cornwall. 

"  Wun't  zay  but  what  'e  maight,"  answered  Devon, 
courteously. 

"  Now,  little  blacksmith,"  resumed  the  lawyer,  though 
Joe  Crang  was  considerably  bigger  than  himself,  "  will 
you  undertake  to  swear,  upon  your  hope  of  salvation, 
which  of  those  two  gentlemen  you  saw  that  night?" 

Joe  Crang  stared  at  the  two  big  men,  and  his  mind  gave 
way  within  him.  He  was  dressed  in  his  best,  and  his  wife 
had  polished  up  his  cheeks  and  nose  with  yellow  soap, 
which  gleamed  across  his  vision  with  a  kind  of  glaze,  and 
therein  danced  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  the  figures  of  the  big 
men,  the  faces  of  their  worships,  and  his  own  hopes  of 
salvation. 

"  Maight  'a  been  Carnisher,"  he  began  to  stammer,  with 
a  desire  to  gratify  his  county ;  but  a  hiss  went  round  the 
room  from  Devonian  sense  of  justice,  and  to  strike  a  bet- 
ter balance,  he  finished  in  despair — "  Wull  then,  it  waz 
both  on  'em." 

"  Stand  down,  sir  !"  Dr.  Morshead  shouted,  sternly,  while 
Blickson  went  through  a  little  panorama  of  righteous  as- 
tonishment and  disgust.  All  the  audience  roared,  and  a 
solid  farmer  called  out,  "  Don't  come  near  me,  you  infer- 
nal liar,"  as  poor  Crang  sought  shelter  behind  his  top- 
coat. So  much  for  honesty,  simplicity,  and  candour,  when 
the  nervous  system  has  broken  down. 

"After  that,  I  should  simply  insult  the  intelligence  of 
your  worships,"  continued  the  triumphant  lawyer,  "by 
proceeding  to  address  you.  Perhaps  I  should  ask  you  to 
commit  that  wretch  for  perjury  ;  but  I  leave  him  to  his 
conscience,  if  he  has  one." 

"  The  case  is  dismissed,"  Dr.  Morshead  announced,  after 
speaking  for  a  moment  to  his  colleague.  "  Unless  there 
is  any  intention  to  charge  these  men  with  resisting  or  as- 
saulting officers  in  the  execution  of  their  warrant.  It  has 
been  reported,  though  not  formally,  that  some  by-stander 
was  considerably  injured.  If  any  charge  is  entered  on 
either  behalf,  we  are  ready  to  receive  the  depositions." 

The  constables,  who  had  been  knocked  about,  were  be- 


GENTLE   AS    A    LAMB  403 

ginning  to  consult  together,  when  Blickson  slipped  among 
them,  after  whispering  to  Herniman,  and  a  good  deal  of 
nodding  of  heads  took  place,  while  pleasant  ideas  were  in- 
terchanged, such  as,  "  handsome  private  compensation  ;" 
"  twenty -five  pounds  to  receive  to-night,  and  such  men  are 
always  generous ;"  "  a  magnificent  supper  -  party  at  the 
least,  if  they  are  free.  If  not,  all  must  come  to  nothing." 

The  worthy  custodians — now  represented  by  a  still 
worthier  body,  and  one  of  still  finer  feeling — perceived  the 
full  value  of  these  arguments  ;  and  luckily  for  the  pris- 
oners, Dr.  Gronow  was  not  present,  being  sadly  occupied 
at  Old  Barn. 

"  Although  there  is  no  charge,  and  no  sign  of  any  charge, 
your  worships,  and  therefore  I  have  no  locus  standi " — 
Mr.  Blickson  had  returned  to  his  place,  and  adopted  an 
airy  and  large-hearted  style — "  I  would  crave  the  indul- 
gence of  the  Bench  for  one  or  two  quite  informal  remarks  ; 
my  object  being  to  remove  every  stigma  from  the  charac- 
ters of  my  respected  clients.  On  the  best  authority  I 
may  state  that  their  one  desire  and  intention  was  to  sur- 
render, like  a  pair  of  lambs" — at  this  description  a  grin 
went  round,  and  the  learned  magistrates  countenanced  it — 
"  if  they  could  only  realize  the  nature  of  the  charge  against 
them.  But  when  they  demanded,  like  Englishmen,  to 
know  why  their  liberty  should  be  suddenly  abridged,  what 
happened  ?  No  one  answered  them  !  All  those  admirable 
men  were  doubtless  eager  to  maintain  the  best  traditions 
of  the  law ;  but  the  hurricane  outroared  them.  They  la- 
boured to  convey  their  legal  message  ;  but  where  is  edu- 
cation in  a  whirl  like  that?  On  the  other  hand,  one  of 
these  law-abiding  men  had  been  engaged  gloriously  in 
maintaining  the  athletic  honour  of  his  county.  This  does 
not  appear  to  have  raised  in  him  at  all  the  pugnacity  that 
might  have  been  expected.  He  strolled  into  the  market- 
place, partly  to  stretch  his  poor,  bruised  legs,  and  partly, 
perhaps,  to  relieve  his  mind  ;  which  men  of  smaller  nature 
would  have  done  by  tippling.  Suddenly  he  is  surrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  very  strong  men  in  the  dark.  The  fair  has 
long  been  over ;  the  lights  are  burning  low ;  scarcely 
enough  of  fire  in  them  to  singe  the  neck  of  an  enterpris- 
ing member  of  our  brave  constabulary.  In  the  thick 


404  PERLYCKOSS 

darkness  and  hubbub  of  the  storm,  the  hero  who  has  re- 
deemed the  belt,  and  therewith  the  ancient  fame  of  our 
county,  supposes  —  naturally  supposes,  charitable  as  his 
large  mind  is,  that  he  is  beset  for  the  sake  of  the  money, 
which  he  has  not  yet  received,  but  intends  to  distribute  so 
freely  when  he  gets  it.  The  time  of  this  honourable 
Bench  is  too  valuable  to  the  public  to  be  wasted  over  any 
descriptions  of  a  petty  skirmish,  no  two  of  which  are  at 
all  alike.  My  large  -bodied  client,  the  mighty  wrestler, 
might  have  been  expected  to  put  forth  his  strength.  It  is 
certain  that  he  did  not  do  so.  The  man  who  had  smitten 
down  the  pride  of  Cornwall  would  strike  not  a  blow  against 
his  own  county.  He  gave  a  playful  push  or  two,  a  chuck 
under  the  chin,  such  as  a  pretty  milkmaid  gets  when  she 
declines  a  sweeter  touch.  I  marvel  at  his  wonderful  self- 
control.  His  knuckles  were  shattered  by  a  blow  from  a 
staff ;  like  a  roof  in  a  hail-storm  his  great  chest  rang — for 
the  men  of  Perliton  can  hit  hard — yet  is  there  anything 
to  show  that  he  even  endeavoured  to  strike  in  return  ? 
And  how  did  it  end  ?  In  the  very  noblest  way.  The 
pastor  of  the  village,  a  most  saintly  man,  but  less  than  an 
infant  in  Harvey  Tremlett's  hands,  appears  at  the  gate, 
when  there  is  no  other  let  or  hinderance  to  the  freedom  of 
a  Briton.  Is  he  thrust  aside  rudely  ?  Is  he  kicked  out  of 
the  way  ?  Nay,  he  lays  a  hand  upon  the  big  man's  breast, 
the  hand  of  a  minister  of  the  Cross.  He  explains  that  the 
law,  by  some  misapprehension,  is  fain  to  apprehend  this 
simple-minded  hero.  The  nature  of  the  sad  mistake  is 
explained ;  and  to  use  a  common  metaphor,  which  excited 
some  derision  just  now,  but  which  I  repeat,  with  facts  to 
back  me — gentle  as  a  lamb,  yonder  lion  surrenders  !" 

"  The  lamb  is  very  fortunate  in  his  shepherd,"  said  Dr. 
Morshead,  dryly,  as  Blickson  sat  down,  under  general  ap- 
plause. "But  there  is  nothing  before  the  Bench,  Mr. 
Blickson.  What  is  the  object  of  all  this  eloquence?" 

"  The  object  of  my  very  simple  narrative,  your  worships, 
is  to  discharge  my  plain  duty  to  my  clients.  I  would  ask 
this  worshipful  Bench  not  only  to  dismiss  a  very  absurd 
application,  but  also  to  add  their  most  weighty  opinions, 
that  Harvey  Tremlett,  and  James  Fox — no,  I  beg  pardon, 
that  was  the  first  mistake  of  this  ever  erroneous  black- 


GENTLE    AS   A   LAMB  405 

smith — James  Kettel,  I  should  say,  have  set  a  fine  example 
of  perfect  submission  to  the  law  of  the  land." 

"  Oh  come,  Mr.  Blickson,  that  is  out  of  the  record.  We 
pronounce  no  opinion  upon  that  point.  We  simply  ad- 
judge that  the  case  be  now  dismissed." 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII 
AN    INLAND    RUN 

"  WON'ERFUL  well,  'e  doed  it,  sir.  If  ever  I  gets  into 
Queer  Street,  you  be  the  one  to  get  ms  out." 

This  well-merited  compliment  was  addressed  by  Dick 
Herniman  to  Attorney  Blickson  at  a  convivial  gathering 
held  that  same  afternoon  to  celebrate  the  above- recorded 
triumph  of  Astrsea.  The  festal  party  had  been  convoked 
at  the  Wheatsheaf  Tavern  in  Perliton  Square,  and  had 
taken  the  best  room  in  the  house,  looking  out  of  two  win- 
dows upon  that  noble  parallelogram,  which  Perliton  never 
failed  to  bring  with  it,  orally,  when  it  condescended  to 
visit  Perlycross.  The  party  had  no  idea  of  being  too  ab- 
stemious, the  object  of  its  existence  being  the  promotion, 
as  well  as  the  assertion,  of  the  liberty  of  the  subject. 

Six  individuals  were  combining  for  this  lofty  purpose, 
to  wit,  the  two  gentlemen  so  unjustly  charged,  and  their 
stout  ally  of  high  artistic  standing,  that  very  able  lawyer 
who  had  vindicated  right ;  also  Captain  Timberlegs,  and 
Horatio  Peckover,  Esquire ;  and  pleasant  it  is  as  well  as 
strange  to  add,  Master  Joseph  Crang,  of  Susscott,  black- 
smith, farrier,  and  engineer.  For  now  little  differences  of 
opinion,  charges  of  perjury  and  body -snatching,  assault 
and  battery,  and  general  malfeasance,  were  sunk  in  the 
large  liberality  of  success,  the  plenitude  of  John  Barley- 
corn and  the  congeniality  of  cordials. 

That  a  stripling  like  the  Hopper  should  be  present  was 
a  proof  of  some  failure  of  discretion  upon  his  part,  for 
which  he  atoned  by  a  tremendous  imposition ;  while  the 
prudent  Pike  and  the  modest  Mopuss  had  refused  with 
short  gratitude  this  banquet  and  gone  home.  But  the 
Hopper  regarded  himself  as  a  witness — although  he  had 
not  been  called  upon — in  right  of  his  researches  at  Black- 


AN   INLAND   KUN  407 

marsh,  and  declared  that  officially  he  must  hear  the  matter 
out,  for  an  explanation  had  been  promised.  The  greater 
marvel  was  perhaps  that  Joe  Crang  should  be  there,  after 
all  the  lash  of  tongue  inflicted  on  him.  But  when  their 
worships  were  out  of  sight,  Blickson  had  taken  him  by 
the  hand,  in  a  truly  handsome  manner,  and  assured  him 
of  the  deep  respect  he  felt,  and  ardent  admiration,  at  his 
too  transparent  truthfulness.  Joe  Crang,  whose  heart  was 
very  sore,  had  shed  a  tear  at  this  touching  tribute,  and  was 
fain  to  admit,  when  the  lawyer  put  it  so,  that  he  was  com- 
pelled in  his  own  art  to  strike  the  finest  metal  the  hardest. 

So  now  all  six  were  in  very  sweet  accord,  having  dined 
well,  and  now  refining  the  firmer  substances  into  the  genial 
flow.  Attorney  Blickson  was  in  the  chair,  for  which  nat- 
ure had  well  qualified  him ;  and  perhaps  in  the  present 
more  ethereal  age,  he  might  have  presided  in  a  "syndi- 
cate" producing  bubbles  of  gold  and  purple,  subsiding 
into  a  bluer  tone. 

For  this  was  a  man  of  quick  natural  parts,  and  gifted  in 
many  ways  for  his  profession.  Every  one  said  that  he 
should  have  been  a  barrister ;  for  his  character  would  not 
have  mattered  so  much,  when  he  went  from  one  town  to 
another,  and  above  all  to  such  a  place  as  London,  where 
they  think  but  little  of  it.  If  he  could  only  stay  sober,  and 
avoid  promiscuous  company,  and  make  up  his  mind  to 
keep  his  hand  out  of  quiet  people's  pockets,  and  do  a  few 
other  respectable  things,  there  was  no  earthly  reason  that 
any  one  could  see  why  he  should  not  achieve  fifty  guineas 
a  day,  and  even  be  a  match  for  Mopuss  K.  C.,  the  father  of 
Mr.  Penniloe's  fattest  pupil. 

"  This  honourable  company  has  a  duty  now  before  it ;" 
Mr.  Blickson  drew  attention  by  rapping  on  the  table,  and 
then  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  with  a  long  pipe  rested  on 
a  bowl  of  punch,  or  rather  nothing  but  a  punch-bowl  now. 
On  his  right  hand  sat  Herniman,  the  giver  of  the  feast — 
or  the  lender  at  least,  till  prize-money  came  to  fist — and  on 
the  other  side  was  Tremlett,  held  down  by  heavy  nature 
from  the  higher  flights  of  Bacchus,  because  no  bowl  was 
big  enough  to  make  him  drunk ;  "  yes,  a  duty,  gentlemen, 
which  I,  as  the  representative  of  law,  cannot  see  neglect- 
ed. We  have  all  enjoyed  one  another's  '  good  health '  in 


408  PERLYCROSS 

the  way  in  which  it  concerns  us  most ;  we  have  also  pro- 
moted by  such  prayers  the  weal  of  the  good  Squire  Mock- 
ham,  and  that  of  another  gentleman,  who  presented  him- 
self as  Amicus  curice — gentlemen,  excuse  a  sample  of  my 
native  tongue — a  little  prematurely  perhaps  last  night,  and 
left  us  to  sigh  for  him  vainly  to-day.  I  refer  to  the  gen- 
tleman with  whom  another,  happily  now  present,  and  the 
soul  of  our  party,  and  rejoicing  equally  in  the  Scriptural 
name  of  James,  was  identified  in  an  early  stage  of  this  still 
mysterious  history,  by  one  of  the  most  conscientious, 
truthful,  and  self-possessed  of  all  witnesses  I  have  ever 
had  the  honour  yet  of  handling  in  the  box.  At  least  he 
was  not  in  the  box,  because  there  was  none ;  but  he  fully 
deserves  to  be  kept  in  a  box.  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  smile 
— at  my  prolixity,  I  fear ;  therefore  I  will  relieve  you  of  it. 
Action  is  always  more  urgent  than  words.  Duty  demands 
that  we  should  have  this  bowl  refilled.  Pleasure,  which  is 
the  fairer  sex  of  duty,  as  every  noble  sailor  knows  too 
well,  awaits  us  next  in  one  of  her  most  tempting  forms,  as 
an  ancient  poet  has  observed.  If  it  is  sweet  to  witness 
from  the  shore  the  travail  of  another,  how  much  sweeter 
to  have  his  trials  brought  before  us  over  the  flowing  bowl, 
while  we  rejoice  in  his  success  and  share  it.  Gentlemen,  I 
call  upon  Captain  Richard  Herniman  for  his  promised  nar- 
rative of  that  great  expedition,  which  by  some  confusion 
of  the  public  mind  has  become  connected  with  a  darker 
enterprise.  Captain  Richard  Herniman  to  the  fore  !" 

"  Bain't  no  cappen,  and  bain't  got  no  big  words,"  said 
Timber-legged  Dick,  getting  up  with  a  rattle,  and  standing 
very  stanchly  ;  "  but  can't  refuse  this  here  gentleman, 
under  the  circumstances.  And  every  word  as  I  says  will 
be  true." 

After  this  left-handed  compliment,  received  with  a 
cheer  in  which  the  lawyer  joined,  the  ancient  salt  premised 
that  among  good  friends  he  relied  on  honour  bright,  that 
there  should  be  no  dirty  turn.  To  this  all  pledged  them- 
selves most  freely  ;  and  he,  trusting  rather  in  his  own  res- 
ervations than  their  pledge  that  no  harm  should  ever  come 
of  it,  shortly  told  his  story,  which  in  substance  was  as  fol- 
lows. But  some  names  which  he  omitted  have  been  filled 
in,  now  that  all  fear  of  inquiry  is  over. 


AN    INLAND    BUN  409 

In  the  previous  September,  when  the  nights  were  grow- 
ing long,  a  successful  run  across  the  channel  had  been 
followed  by  a  peaceful  and  well-conducted  landing  at  a 
lonely  spot  on  the  Devonshire  coast,  where  that  pretty 
stream  the  Otter  flows  into  the  sea.  That  part  of  the 
shore  was  very  slackly  guarded  then ;  and  none  of  the 
authorities  got  scent,  while  scent  was  hot,  of  this  cordial 
international  transaction.  Some  of  these  genuine  wares 
found  a  home  promptly  and  pleasantly  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, among  farmers,  tradesman,  squires,  and  others,  in- 
cluding even  some  loyal  rectors,  and  zealous  justices  of 
the  peace,  or  peradventure  their  wives  and  daughters, 
capable  of  minding  their  own  keys.  Some,  after  dwell- 
ing in  caves,  or  furze-ricks,  barns,  potato-buries,  or  hollow 
trees,  went  inland,  or  to  Sidmouth,  or  Seaton,  or  any- 
where else  where  a  good  tax-payer  had  plastered  up  his 
windows,  or  put  "  Dairy  "  on  the  top. 

But  the  prime  of  the  cargo,  and  the  very  choicest 
goods,  such  as  fine  cognac,  rich  silk,  and  rare  lace,  too 
good  for  peddlers,  and  too  dear  for  country  churches,  still 
remained  stored  away  very  snugly  in  some  old  dry  cellars 
beneath  the  court-yard  of  a  ruined  house  at  Budleigh ; 
where  nobody  cared  to  go  poking  about,  because  the  old 
gentleman  who  lived  there  once  had  been  murdered  near- 
ly thirty  years  ago  for  informing  against  smugglers,  and 
was  believed  to  be  in  the  habit  of  walking  there  now. 
These  shrewd  men  perceived  how  just  it  was  that  he 
should  stand  guard  in  the  spirit  over  that  which  in  the 
flesh  he  had  betrayed,  especially  as  his  treason  had  been 
caused  by  dissatisfaction  with  his  share  in  a  very  fine 
contraband  venture.  Much  was  now  committed  to  his 
posthumous  sense  of  honour  ;  for  the  free-traders  vowed 
that  they  could  make  a  thousand  pounds  of  these  choice 
wares  in  any  wealthy  town  like  Bath  or  Bristol,  or  even 
Weymouth,  then  more  fashionable  than  it  is  now. 

But  suddenly  their  bright  hopes  were  dashed.  Instead 
of  reflecting  on  the  value  of  these  goods,  they  were 
forced  to  take  hasty  measures  for  their  safety.  A  very 
bustling  man,  of  a  strange,  suspicious  turn,  as  dry  as  a  mull 
of  snuff,  and  as  rough  as  a  nutmeg-grater ;  in  a  word,  a 
Scotchman  out  of  sympathy  with  the  natives,  was  ap- 
18 


410  PERLYCEOSS 

pointed  to  the  station  at  Sidmouth,  and  before  he  un- 
packed his  clothes  began  to  root  about,  like  a  dog  who 
has  been  trained  to  hunt  for  morels.  Very  soon  he  came 
across  some  elegant  French  work  in  cottages,  or  fishers' 
huts,  or  on  the  necks  of  milkmaids ;  and  nothing  would 
content  him  until  he  had  discovered,  even  by  such  deep 
intriguery  as  the  distribution  of  lollipops,  the  history  of 
the  recent  enterprise. 

"Let  by-gones  be  by-gones,"  would  have  been  the 
Christian  sentiment  of  any  new-comer  at  all  connected 
with  the  district;  and  Sandy  MacSpudder  must  have 
known  quite  well  that  his  curiosity  was  in  the  worst  of 
taste,  and  the  result  too  likely  to  cast  discredit  on  his  own 
predecessor,  who  was  threatening  to  leave  the  world  just 
then  with  a  large  family  unprovided  for.  Yet  such  was 
this  Scotchman's  pertinacity  and  push  that  even  the  little 
quiet  village  of  Budleigh,  which  has  nothing  to  do  but  to 
listen  to  its  own  brook  prattling  to  the  gently  smiling 
valley,  even  this  rose-fringed  couch  of  peace  was  ripped 
up  by  the  slashing  of  this  rude  lieutenant's  cutlass.  A 
spectre,  even  of  the  best  Devonian  antecedents,  was  of 
less  account  than  a  scarecrow  to  this  matter-of-fact  Low- 
lander.  "A'  can  smell  a  rat  in  that  ghostie,"  was  his  pro- 
fane conclusion. 

This  put  the  spirited  free-traders  on  their  mettle.  Fifty 
years  ago  that  Scotch  interloper  would  have  learned  the 
restful  qualities  of  a^  greener  sod  than  his.  But  it  is  of 
interest  to  observe  how  the  English  nature  softened  when 
the  smiting  times  had  lapsed.  It  scarcely  occurred  to  this 
gentler  generation  that  a  bullet  from  behind  a  rock 
would  send  this  spry  inquirer  to  solve  larger  questions 
on  his  own  account.  Savage  brutality  had  less  example 
now. 

The  only  thing  therefore  was  to  overreach  this  man. 
He  was  watching  all  the  roads  along  the  coast,  to  east  and 
west;  but  to  guard  all  the  tangles  of  the  inward  roads 
and  the  blessed  complexity  of  Devonshire  lanes  would 
have  needed  an  army  of  pure  natives.  Whereas  this  busy 
foreigner  placed  no  faith  in  any  man  born  in  that  part  of 
the  world — such  was  his  judgment — and  had  called  for  a 
draft  of  fellows  having  different  vowels. 


AN    INLAND    BUN  411 

This  being  so,  it  served  him  right  to  be  largely  out- 
witted by  the  thick-heads  he  despised.  Arid  he  had  made 
such  a  fuss  about  it,  at  headquarters,  and  promised  such 
wonders  if  the  case  were  left  to  him,  that  when  he  capt- 
ured nothing  but  a  string  of  worn-out  kegs  filled  with 
diluted  sheep-wash,  he  not  only  suffered  for  a  week  from 
gastric  troubles — through  his  noseless  hurry  to  identify 
cognac — but  also  received  a  stinging  reprimand,  and  an 
order  for  removal  to  a  very  rugged  coast,  where  he  might 
be  more  at  home  with  the  language  and  the  manners. 
And  his  predecessor's  son  obtained  that  sunny  situation. 
Thus  is  zeal  rewarded  always,  when  it  does  not  spell  suc- 
cess. 

None  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the  simple  yet  mas- 
terly stratagem,  by  means  of  which  the  fair  western  coun- 
ty vindicated  its  commercial  rights  against  northern  arro- 
gance and  ignoble  arts,  was  the  invention  of  a  British  tar, 
an  old  Agamemnon,  a  true  heart  of  oak,  remembered  also 
in  the  same  fine  material.  The  lessons  of  Nelson  had  not 
been  thrown  away ;  this  humble  follower  of  that  great 
hero  first  misled  the  adversary,  and  then  broke  his  line. 
Invested  as  he  was  by  superior  forces  seeking  access  even 
to  his  arsenal,  he  despatched  to  the  eastward  a  lumbering 
craft,  better  known  to  landsmen  as  a  wagon,  heavily  laden 
with  straw  newly  threshed,  under  which  was  stowed  a  tier 
of  ancient  kegs,  which  had  undergone  too  many  sinkings 
in  the  sea  (when  a  landing  proved  unsafe)  to  be  trusted 
any  more  with  fine  contents.  Therefore  they  now  con- 
tained sheep-wash,  diluted  from  the  brook  to  the  com- 
plexion of  old  brandy.  In  the  loading  of  this  wagon 
special  mystery  was  observed,  which  did  not  escape  the 
vigilance  of  the  keen  lieutenant's  watchmen.  With  a  pair 
of  good  farm-horses,  and  a  farm-lad  on  the  ridge  of  the 
load,  and  a  heavy  fellow  whistling  not  too  loudly  on  the 
lade-rail,  this  harmless  car  of  fictitious  Bacchus,  crowned 
by  effete  Ceres,  wended  its  rustic  way  towards  the  lowest 
bridge  of  Otter,  a  classic  and  idyllic  stream.  These  two 
men,  of  pastoral  strain  and  richest  breadth  of  language, 
received  orders  of  a  simplicity  almost  equal  to  their  own. 

No  sooner  was  this  wagon  lost  to  sight  and  hearing  in 
the  thick  October  night,  and  the  watchmen  speeding  by 


412  PEELYCEOSS 

the  short  cuts  to  report  it,  than  a  long,  light  cart,  with  a 
strong  out-stepping  horse,  came  down  the  wooded  valley 
to  the  ghostly  court.  In  half  an  hour  it  was  packed,  and 
started  inland,  passing  the  birthplace  of  a  very  great  man, 
straight  away  to  Farringdon  and  Kockbear,  with  orders  to 
put  up  at  Clist  Hidon  before  daylight,  where  lived  a 
farmer  who  would  harbor  them  securely.  On  the  follow- 
ing night  they  were  to  make  their  way,  after  shunning 
Cullompton,  to  the  shelter  in  Blackmarsh,  where  they 
would  be  safe  from  all  intrusion,  and  might  await  fresh 
instructions,  which  would  take  them  probably  towards 
Bridgwater  and  Bristol.  By  friendly  ministrations  of 
the  Whetstone  men,  who  had  some  experience  in  trade  of 
this  description,  all  this  was  managed  with  the  best  suc- 
cess; Jem  Kettel  knew  the  country  roads  by  dark  as  well 
as  by  daylight,  and  Harvey  Tremlett  was  not  a  man  to  be 
collared  very  easily.  In  fact,  without  that  sad  mishap  to 
their  very  willing  and  active  nag,  they  might  have  fared 
through  Perlycross,  as  they  had  through  other  villages 
where  people  wooed  the  early  pillow,  without  a  trace  or 
dream  of  any  secret  treasure  passing. 

Meanwhile  that  pure  and  earnest  Scotchman  was  enjoy- 
ing his  own  acuteness.  He  allowed  that  slowly  rolling 
wagon  of  the  Eleusine  dame  to  proceed  some  miles  upon 
its  course  before  his  men  stood  at  the  horses'  heads.  There 
was  wisdom  in  this,  as  well  as  pleasure — the  joy  a  cat 
prolongs  with  a  mouse — inasmuch  as  all  these  good  things 
were  approaching  his  own  den  of  spoil.  When  the 
Scotchmen  challenged  the  Devonshire  swains,  with  flourish 
of  iron,  and  of  language  even  harder,  an  interpreter  was 
sorely  needed.  Not  a  word  could  the  Northmen  under- 
stand that  came  from  the  broad,  soft  Southron  tongues ; 
while  the  Devonshire  men  feigning,  as  they  were  bidden, 
to  take  them  for  highwaymen,  feigned  also  not  to  know  a 
syllable  of  what  they  said. 

This  led,  as  it  was  meant  to,  to  very  lavish  waste  of 
time  and  increment  of  trouble.  The  carters,  instead  of 
lending  hand  for  the  unloading  of  their  wagon,  sadly 
delayed  that  operation,  by  shouting  out  "  thaves !"  at  the 
top  of  their  voices,  tickling  their  horses  into  a  wild  start 
now  and  then,  and  rolling  the  preventive  men  off  at  the 


AN    INLAND    RUN  413 

tail.  MacSpudder  himself  had  a  narrow  escape  ;  for  just 
when  he  chanced  to  be  between  two  wheels,  both  of  them 
set  off,  without  a  word  of  notice ;  and  if  he  had  possessed 
at  all  a  western  body,  it  would  have  been  run  over.  Be- 
ing made  of  corkscrew  metal  by  hereditary  right,  he 
wriggled  out  as  sound  as  ever ;  and  looked  forward  all 
the  more  to  the  solace  underlying  this  reluctant  pile,  as 
dry  as  any  of  his  own  components. 

Nothing  but  his  own  grunts  can  properly  express  the 
fattening  of  his  self-esteem  (the  whole  of  which  was 
home-fed)  when  his  men,  without  a  fork — for  the  Boreal 
mind  had  never  thought  of  that — but  with  a  great  many 
chops  of  knuckles  (for  the  skin  of  straw  is  tougher  than  a 
Scotchman's)  found  their  way  at  midnight,  like  a  puzzled 
troop  of  divers,  into  the  reef  at  bottom  of  the  sheafy  bil- 
lows. Their  throats  were  in  a  husky  state,  from  chaff  too 
penetrative,  and  barn-dust  over-volatile,  and  they  risked 
their  pulmonary  weal  by  opening  a  too  sanguine  cheer. 

"  Duty  compels  us  to  test  the  staple,"  the  officer  in 
command  decreed ;  and  many  mouths  gaped  round  the 
glow  of  his  bull's-eye.  "  Don't  'ee  titch  none  of  that  their 
wassh !"  the  benevolent  Devonians  exclaimed  in  vain. 
Want  of  faith  prevailed ;  every  man  suspected  the  verdict 
of  his  predecessor,  and  even  his  own  at  first  swallow.  If 
timber-legged  Dick  could  have  timed  the  issue,  what  a 
landing  he  might  have  made !  For  the  coast-guard  tested 
staple  so  that  twenty  miles  of  coast  were  left  free  for  fifty 
hours. 

Having  told  these  things  in  his  gravest  manner,  Herni- 
man,  who  so  well  combined  the  arts  of  peace  and  war, 
filled  another  pipe,  and  was  open  to  inquiry.  Everybody 
accepted  his  narrative  with  pleasure,  and  heartily  wished 
him  another  such  a  chance  of  directing  fair  merchandise 
along  the  lanes  of  luck.  The  blacksmith  alone  had  some 
qualms  of  conscience  for  apparent  backslidings  from  the 
true  faith  of  free-trade.  But  they  clapped  him  on  the 
back,  and  he  promised  with  a  gulp  that  he  never  would 
peep  into  a  liberal  van  again. 

"  There  is  one  thing  not  quite  clear  to  me,"  said  the 
Hopper,  when  the  man  of  iron  was  settled  below  the  table, 
whereas  the  youth  had  kept  himself  in  trim  for  steeple- 


414  PERLYCROSS 

chasing.  "  What  could  our  friend  have  seen  in  that 
vehicle  of  free-trade  to  make  him  give  that  horrible  ac- 
count of  its  contents  ?  And  again,  why  did  Mr.  Harvey 
Tremlett  carry  off  that  tool  of  his,  which  I  found  in  the 
water?" 

With  a  wave  of  his  hand — for  his  tongue  had  now  lost, 
by  one  of  nature's  finest  arrangements,  the  copiousness  of 
the  morning,  whereas  a  man  of  sober  silence  would  now 
have  bloomed  into  fluency  —  the  chairman  deputed  to 
Herniman  and  Tremlett  the  honour  of  replying  to  the 
Hopper. 

"  You  see,  sir,"  said  the  former,  "  it  was  just  like  this. 
We  was  hurried  so  in  stowing  cargo  that  some  of  the 
finest  laces  in  the  world,  such  as  they  calls  Valentines, 
worth  maybe  fifty  or  a  hundred  pounds  a  yard,  was  shot 
into  the  hold  anyhow,  among  a  lot  of  silks  and  so  on. 
Harvey  and  Jemmy  was  on  honour  to  deliver  goods  as 
they  received  them  ;  blacksmith  seed  some  of  this  lace 
a-flappin'  under  black  tarporly ;  and  he  knowed  as  your 
poor  squire  had  been  figged  out  for's  last  voyage  with  same 
sort  of  stuff,  only  not  so  good.  A  clever  old  'ooman  mak- 
eth  some,  to  Perlycrass ;  Honiton  lace  they  calls  it  here. 
What  could  a'  think  but  that  squire  was  there  ?  Reckon 
Master  Crang  would  a'  told  'e  this,  if  so  be  a7  hadn't  had 
a  little  drop  too  much." 

"  Thou  bee'st  a  liar.  Han't  had  half  enough,  I  tell  'e," 
the  blacksmith  from  under  the  table  replied,  and  then 
rolled  away  into  a  bellowsful  of  snores. 

"  To  be  sure !"  said  Peckover.  "  I  see  now.  Tamsin 
Tamlin's  work  it  was.  Sergeant  Jakes  told  me  all  about 
it.  With  all  the  talk  there  had  been  of  robbing  graves, 
and  two  men  keeping  in  the  dark  so,  no  wonder  Crang 
thought  what  he  did.  Many  people  went  to  see  that  lace, 
1  heard  ;  and  they  said  it  was  too  good  to  go  underground ; 
though  nothing  could  be  too  good  for  the  squire.  Well 
now,  about  that  other  thing — -why  did  Mr.  Tremlett  make 
off  with  little  Billy  ?" 

"  Can't  tell  'e,  sir,  very  much  about  'un,"  the  wrestler 
answered,  with  a  laugh  at  the  boy's  examination.  "  Hap- 
pen I  tuk  'un  up,  a-veelin'  of  'un,  to  frighten  blacksmith 
maybe ;  and  then  I  vancied  a'  maight  come  ooseful,  if  nag's 


AN    INLAND    RUN  415 

foot  went  wrong  again.  Then  when  nag  gooed  on  all 
right,  I  just  chucked  'un  into  a  pool  of  watter,  for  to  kape 
'un  out  o'  sight  of  twisty  volk.  Ort  more  to  zatisfy  this 
young  gent  ?" 

"  Yes.  I  am  a  twisty  folk,  I  suppose.  Unless  there  is 
any  objection,  I  should  like  very  much  to  know  why  Dr. 
Fox  was  sent  on  that  fool's  errand  to  the  pits." 

"  Oh,  I  can  tell  'e  that,  sir,"  replied  Jem  Kettel,  for  the 
spirit  of  the  lad,  and  his  interest  in  their  doings,  had  made 
him  a  favourite  with  the  present  company.  "It  were  one 
of  my  mates  as  took  too  much  trouble.  He  were  appointed 
to  meet  us  at  the  cornder  of  the  four  roads,  an  hour  afore 
that  or  more ;  and  he  got  in  a  bit  of  a  skear,  it  seems,  not 
knowing  why  we  was  so  behindhand.  But  he  knowed  Dr. 
Vox,  and  thought  'un  better  out  o'  way,  being  such  a  sharp 
chap,  and  likely  to  turn  meddlesome.  He  didn't  want  'un  to 
hang  about  up  street,  as  a'  maight  with  some  sick  'ooman, 
and  so  he  zent  un'  t'other  road,  to  tend  a  little  haxi- 
dent.  Wouldn't  do  he  no  harm,  a'  thought,  and  might 
zave  us  some  bother.  But,  Lord !  if  us  could  have  only 
knowed  the  toorn  your  volk  would  putt  on  it,  I  reckon  us 
should  have  roared  and  roared,  all  droo  the  strates  of 
Perlycrass.  Vainest  joke  as  ever  coom  to  my  hearing  or 
ever  wall,  however  long  the  Lord  kapeth  me  a-livin'.  And 
to  think  of  Jem  Kettel  being  sworn  to  for  a  learned 
doctor !  Never  had  no  teethache  I  han't,  since  the  day  I 
heered  on  it."  A  hearty  laugh  was  held  to  be  a  sovereign 
cure  for  toothache  then,  and  perhaps  would  be  so  still, 
if  the  patient  could  accomplish  it. 

"  Well,  so  far  as  that  goes,  you  have  certainly  got  the 
laugh  of  us,"  Master  Peckover  admitted,  not  forgetting 
that  he  himself  came  in  for  as  much  as  any  one.  "  But 
come  now,  as  you  are  so  sharp,  just  give  me  your  good 
opinion.  And  you  being  all  aloug  the  roads  that  night, 
ought  to  have  seen  something.  Who  were  the  real  people 
in  that  horrid  business  ?" 

"  The  Lord  in  heaven  knoweth,  sir,"  said  Tremlett,  very 
solemnly.  "  Us  passed  in  front  of  Perlycrass  church, 
about  dree  o'clock  of  the  morning  Nort  were  doing  then, 
or  us  could  scarcely  have  helped  hearing  of  it.  Even  if 
'em  heered  our  wheels,  and  so  got  out  of  sight,  I  reckon, 


416  PEKLYCKOSS 

us  must  a'  seed  the  earth-heap,  though  moon  were  gone  a 
good  bit  afore  that.  And  zira'th  there  waz  no  harse  there. 
A  harse  will  sing  out  a'most  always  to  another  harse  at 
night,  when  a'  heareth  of  him  coming,  and  a'  standeth 
lonely.  Us  met  nawbody  from  Perlycrass  to  Blackmarsh. 
As  to  us  and  Clam-pit  volk,  zoonder  would  us  goo  to  gal- 
lows than  have  ort  to  say  to  grave-work.  And  gallows  be 
too  good  for  'un,  accardin'  my  opinion.  But  gen'lemen, 
afore  us  parts,  I  wants  to  drink  the  good  health  of  the 
best  man  I've  a  knowed  on  airth.  Bain't  saying  much, 
perhaps,  for  my  ways  hath  been  crooked  like.  But  mak- 
eth  any  kearless  chap  belave  in  good  above  'un,  when  a 
hap'th  acrass  a  man  as  thinketh  nort  of  his  own  zell,  but 
gi'eth  his  life  to  other  volk.  God  bless  Passon  Penniloe  !" 


CHAPTER     XXXIX 
NEEDFUL     RETURNS 

Now  it  happened  that  none  of  these  people,  thus  rejoic- 
ing in  the  liberty  of  the  subject,  had  heard  of  the  very  sad 
state  of  things,  mainly  caused  by  their  own  acts,  and  now 
prevailing  at  Old  Barn.  Tremlett  knew  that  he  had  struck 
a  vicious  blow  at  the  head  of  a  man  who  had  grappled 
him,  but  he  thought  he  had  missed  it  and  struck  something 
else,  a  bag,  or  a  hat,  or  he  knew  not  what,  in  the  pell-mell 
scuffle  and  the  darkness.  His  turn  of  mind  did  not  incline 
him  to  be  by  any  means  particular  as  to  his  conduct,  in  a 
hot  and  hard  personal  encounter ;  but  knowing  his  vast 
strength  he  generally  abstained  from  the  use  of  heavy 
weapons,  while  his  temper  was  his  own.  But  in  this  hot 
struggle,  he  had  met  with  a  mutually  shattering  blow  from 
a  staff,  as  straight  as  need  be  upon  his  right-hand  knuckles  ; 
and  the  pain  from  this,  coupled  with  the  wrath  aroused  at 
the  access  of  volunteer  enemies,  had  carried  him — like  the 
raging  elements  outside — out  of  all  remembrance  of  the 
true  "sacredness  of  humanity."  He  struck  out,  with  a 
sense  of  not  doing  the  right  thing,  which  is  always 
strengthened  afterwards ;  and  his  better  stars  being 
ablink  in  the  gale,  and  the  other  man's  gone  into  the 
milky  way,  he  hit  him  too  hard ;  which  is  a  not  uncom- 
mon error. 

Many  might  have  reasoned  (and  before  all  others,  Har- 
vey Tremlett's  wife,  if  still  within  this  world  of  reason, 
and  a  bad  job  it  was  for  him  that  she  was  now  outside  it) 
that  nothing  could  be  nobler,  taking  people  as  we  find 
them — and  how  else  can  we  get  the  time  to  take  them  ? — 
than  the  behaviour  of  this  champion  wrestler.  But,  with- 
out going  into  such  sweet  logic  of  affinity,  and  rhetoric  of 
friends  (whose  minds  have  been  made  up  in  front  of  it), 
18* 


418  PERLYCROSS 

there  was  this  crushing  fact  to  meet,  that  an  innocent 
man's  better  arm  was  in  a  smash. 

No  milder  word,  however  medical,  is  fit  to  apply  to 
Frank  Gilham's  poor  fore-arm.  They  might  call  it  the 
ulna — for  a  bit  of  Latin  is  a  solace  to  the  man  who  feels 
the  pain  in  a  brother  Christian's  member — and  they  might 
enter  nobly  into  fine  nerves  of  anatomy  ;  but  the  one-sided 
difficulty  still  was  there  —  they  had  got  to  talk  about  it; 
he  had  got  to  bear  it. 

Not  that  he  made  any  coward  outcry  of  it.  A  truer  test 
of  manliness  (as  has  been  often  said  by  those  who  have 
been  through  either  trial),  truer  than  the  rush  of  blood 
and  reckless  dash  of  battle,  is  the  calm,  open-eyed,  and 
firm-fibred  endurance  of  long,  ever-grinding,  never-gradu- 
ating pain.  The  pain  that  has  no  pang,  no  paroxysm,  no 
generosity  to  make  one  cry  out  "  Well  done !"  to  it,  and 
be  thankful  to  the  Lord  that  it  must  have  done  its  worst ; 
but  a  fluid  that  keeps  up  a  slow  boil,  by  day  and  night, 
and  never  lifts  the  pot -lid,  and  never  whirls  about,  but 
keeps  up  a  steady  stew  of  flesh  and  bone  and  marrow. 

"  I  fear  there  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  have  it  off,"  Dr. 
Gronow  said,  upon  the  third  day  of  this  frightful  anguish. 
He  had  scarcely  left  the  patient  for  an  hour  at  a  time ; 
and  if  he  had  done  harsh  things  in  his  better  days,  no 
one  would  believe  it  of  him  who  could  see  him  now.  "It 
was  my  advice  at  first,  you  know ;  but  you  would  not 
have  it,  Jemmy.  You  are  more  of  a  surgeon  than  I  am. 
But  I  doubt  whether  you  should  risk  his  life  like  this." 

"  I  am  still  in  hopes  of  saving  it.  But  you  see  how 
little  I  can  do,"  replied  Fox,  whose  voice  was  very  low, 
for  he  was  suffering  still  from  that  terrible  concussion, 
and  but  for  the  urgency  of  Gilham's  case  he  would  now 
have  been  doctoring  the  one  who  pays  the  worst  for  it. 
"  If  I  had  my  proper  touch,  and  strength  of  nerve,  I  never 
should  have  let  it  come  to  this.  There  is  a  vile  bit  of 
splinter  that  won't  come  in,  and  I  am  not  firm  enough  to 
make  it.  I  wish  I  had  left  it  to  you,  as  you  offered. 
After  all,  you  know  much  more  than  we  do." 

"No,  my  dear  boy.  It  is  your  special  line.  Such  a 
case  as  Lady  Waldron's  I  might  be  more  at  home  with. 
I  should  have  had  the  arm  off  long  ago.  But  the  mother 


NEEDFUL    RETURNS  419 

— the  mother  is  such  a  piteous  creature !  What  has  be- 
come of  all  my  nerve?  I  am  quite  convinced  that  fly- 
fishing makes  a  man  too  gentle.  I  cannot  stand  half  the 
things  I  once  thought  nothing  of.  By-the-bye,  couldn't 
you  counteract  her  ?  You  know  the  old  proverb — 

'  One  woman  rules  the  men ; 
Two  makes  them  think  again.' 

It  would  be  the  best  thing  you  could  do." 

"  I  don't  see  exactly  what  you  mean,"  answered  Jemmy, 
who  had  lost  nearly  all  of  his  sprightliness. 

"Plainer  than  a  pikestaff.  Send  for  your  sister.  You 
owe  it  to  yourself  and  her ;  and,  most  of  all,  to  the  man 
who  has  placed  his  life  in  peril  to  save  yours.  It  is  not 
a  time  to  be  too  finical." 

"  I  have  thought  of  it  once  or  twice.  She  would  be  of 
the  greatest  service  now.  But  I  don't  much  like  to  ask 
her.  Most  likely  she  would  refuse  to  come,  after  the  way 
in  which  I  packed  her  off." 

"My  dear  young  friend,"  said  Dr.  Gronow,  looking  at 
him  steadfastly,  "  if  that  is  all  you  have  to  say,  you  don't 
deserve  a  wife  at  all  worthy  of  the  name.  In  the  first 
place,  you  won't  sink  your  own  little  pride ;  and  in  the 
next,  you  have  no  idea  what  a  woman  is." 

"Young  Farrant  is  the  most  obliging  fellow  in  the 
world,"  replied  Fox,  after  thinking  for  a  minute.  "  I  will 
put  him  on  my  young  mare  Perle,  who  knows  the  way ; 
and  he'll  be  at  Foxden  before  dark.  If  Chris  likes  to 
come,  she  can  be  here  well  enough  by  twelve  or  one 
o'clock  to-morrow." 

"  Like  or  no  like,  I'll  answer  for  her  coming ;  and  I'll 
answer  for  her  not  being  very  long  about  it,"  said  the 
older  doctor ;  and  on  both  points  he  was  right. 

Christie  was  not  like  herself  when  she  arrived,  but 
pale  and  timid  and  trembling.  Her  brother  had  not 
mentioned  Frank  in  his  letter,  doubting  the  turn  she 
might  take  about  it,  and  preferring  that  she  should  come 
to  see  to  himself,  which  was  her  foremost  duty.  But  young 
Mr.  Farrant,  the  churchwarden's  son,  and  pretty  Minnie's 
brother,  had  no  embargo  laid  upon  his  tongue ;  and  had 


420  PEELYCROSS 

there  been  fifty,  what  could  they  have  availed  to  debar 
such  a  clever  young  lady  ?  She  had  cried  herself  to  sleep, 
when  she  knew  all,  and  dreamed  it  a  thousand  times 
worse  than  it  was. 

Now  she  stood  in  the  porch  of  the  Old  Barn,  striving 
and  sternly  determined  to  show  herself  rational,  true  to 
relationship,  sisterly,  and  no  more.  But  her  white  lips, 
quick  breath,  and  quivering  eyelids  were  not  altogether 
consistent  with  that.  Instead  of  amazement,  when  Mrs. 
Gilham  came  to  meet  her,  and  no  Jemmy,  she  did  not 
even  feign  to  be  surprised,  but  fell  into  the  bell-sleeves 
(which  were  fine  things  for  embracing)  and  let  the  deep 
throbs  of  her  heart  disclose  a  tale  that  is  better  felt  than 
told. 

"  My  dearie,"  said  the  mother,  as  she  laid  the  damask 
cheek  against  the  wrinkled  one,  and  stroked  the  bright 
hair  with  the  palm  of  her  hand,  "  don't  'e  give  way,  that's 
a  darling  child.  It  will  all  be  so  different,  now  you  are 
come.  *It  was  what  I  was  longing  for,  day  and  night,  but 
could  not  bring  myself  to  ask ;  and  I  felt  so  sure  in  my 
heart,  my  dear,  how  sorry  you  would  be  for  him." 

"  I  should  think  so.  I  can't  tell  you.  And  all  done 
for  Jemmy,  who  was  so  ungrateful !  My  brother  would 
be  dead  if  your  son  was  like  him.  There  has  never  been 
anything  half  so  noble  in  all  the  history  of  the  world." 

"  My  dear,  you  say  that  because  you  think  well  of  our 
Frankie — I  have  not  called  him  that  since  Tuesday,  now. 
But  you  do  think  well  of  him,  don't  you,  now  ?" 

"Don't  talk  to  me  of  thinking  well  indeed.  I  never 
can  endure  those  weak  expressions.  When  I  like  people 
I  do  like  them." 

"  My  dear,  it  reminds  me  quite  of  our  own  country,  to 
hear  you  speak  out  so  hearty.  None  of  them  do  it  up 
your  way  much,  according  to  what  I  hear  of  them.  I 
feel  it  so  kind  of  you  to  like  Frank  Gilham." 

"  Well !  am  I  never  to  be  understood  ?  Is  there  no 
meaning  in  the  English  language  ?  I  don't  like  him  only, 
but  with  all  my  heart  I  love  him." 

"  He  won't  care  if  doctors  cut  his  arm  off  now,  if  he 
hath  one  left  to  go  round  you."  The  mother  sobbed  a 
little,  with  second  fiddle  in  full  view;  but  being  still  a 


NEEDFUL    RETURNS  421 

mother,  wiped  her  eyes  and  smiled  with  content  at  the 
inevitable  thing. 

"One  thing  remember,"  said  the  girl,  with  a  coaxing, 
domestic  smile,  and  yet  a  lot  of  sparkle  in  her  eyes,  "  if 
you  ever  tell  him  what  you  twisted  out  of  me,  in  a  man- 
ner which  I  may  call  —  well,  too  circumstantial  —  I  am 
afraid  that  I  never  should  forgive  you.  I  am  awfully 
proud,  and  I  can  be  tremendous.  Perhaps  he  would  not 
even  care  to  hear  it.  And  then  what  would  become  of  me  ? 
Can  you  tell  me  that  ?" 

"  My  dear,  you  know  better.  You  know,  as  well  as  I 
do,  that  ever  since  he  saw  you  he  has  thought  of  nothing 
else.  It  has  made  me  feel  ashamed  that  I  should  have  a 
son  capable  of  throwing  over  all  the  world  beside — " 

"  But,  don't  you  see,  that  is  the  very  thing  I  like  ?  No- 
ble as  he  is,  if  it  were  not  for  that,  I — well,  I  won't  go 
into  it ;  but  you  ought  to  understand.  He  can't  think  half 
so  much  of  me  as  I  do  of  him." 

"  Then  there  is  a  pair  of  you,  and  the  Lord  has  made 
you  so.  But  never  fear,  my  pretty,  not  a  whisper  shall  he 
have.  You  shall  tell  him  all  about  it,  with  your  own  sweet 
lips." 

"  As  if  I  could  do  that  indeed !  Why,  Mrs.  Gilham, 
was  that  what  you  used  to  do  when  you  were  young?  I 
thought  people  were  ever  so  much  more  particular  in  those 
days." 

"  I  can  hardly  tell,  my  dear.  Sometimes  I  quite  forget, 
because  it  seems  so  long  ago ;  and  at  other  times  I'm  not 
fit  to  describe  it,  because  I  am  doing  it  over  again.  But 
for  pretty  behaviour,  and  nice  ways — nice  people  have 
them  in  every  generation,  and  you  may  take  place  with 
the  best  of  them.  But  we  are  talking  as  if  nothing  was 
the  matter,  and  you  have  never  asked  even  how  we  are 
going  on !" 

"Because  I  know  all  about  it  from  the  best  authority. 
Coming  up  the  hill  we  met  Dr.  Gronow,  and  I  stopped  the 
chaise  to  have  a  talk  with  him.  He  does  not  think  the 
arm  will  ever  be  much  good  again,  but  he  leaves  it  to 
younger  men  to  be  certain  about  anything.  That  was 
meant  for  Jemmy,  I  suppose.  He  would  rather  have  the 
pain  than  not,  he  says ;  meaning,  of  course,  in  the  patient — 


422  PEELYCKOSS 

not  himself.  It  shows  healthy  action  —  though  I  can't 
see  how — and  just  the  proper  quantity  of  inflammation, 
which  I  should  have  thought  couldn't  be  too  little.  He 
has  come  round  to  Jemmy's  opinion  this  morning  :  that  if 
one — something  or  other — can  be  got  to  stay  in  its  pl?ce, 
and  not  do  something  or  other  —  the  poor  arm  may  be 
saved,  after  all,  though  never  as  strong  as  it  was  before. 
He  says  it  must  have  been  a  frightful  blow.  I  hope  that 
man  will  be  punished  for  it  heavily." 

"  I  hope  so  too,  with  all  my  heart ;  though  I  am  not 
revengeful.  Mr.  Penniloe  was  up  here  yesterday,  and  he 
tried  to  make  the  best  of  it.  I  was  so  vexed  that  I  told 
him  he  would  not  be  quite  such  a  Christian  about  it,  per- 
haps, if  he  had  the  pain  in  his  own  arm.  But  he  has 
made  the  man  promise  to  give  himself  up  if  your  brother 
or  my  son  require  it.  I  was  for  putting  him  in  jail  at 
once,  but  the  others  think  it  better  to  wait  a  bit.  But  as 
for  his  promise,  I  wouldn't  give  much  for  that.  However, 
men  manage  those  things,  and  not  women.  Did  the  doc- 
tor say  whether  you  might  see  my  Franky  ?" 

"  He  said  I  might  see  Jemmy,  though  Jemmy  is  very 
queer.  But  as  for  Frank,  if  I  saw  him  through  a  chink 
in  the  wall,  that  would  be  quite  enough.  But  he  must 
not  see  me,  unless  it  was  with  a  telescope  through  a  two- 
inch  door.  That  annoyed  me  rather.  As  if  we  were  such 
babies  !  But  he  said  that  you  were  a  sensible  woman, 
and  that  was  the  advice  you  gave  him." 

"  What  a  story  !  Oh,  my  dear,  never  marry  a  doctor — 
though  I  hope  you  will  never  have  the  chance — but  they 
really  don't  seem  to  care  what  they  say.  It  was  just  the 
same  in  my  dear  husband's  time.  Dr.  Gronow  said  to 
me.  '  If  she  comes  when  I  am  out,  don't  let  her  go  near 
either  of  them.  She  might  do  a  lot  of  mischief.  She 
might  get  up  an  argument  or  something.'  And  so  I  said — " 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Gilham,  that  is  a  great  deal  worse  than  tell- 
ing almost  any  story.  An  argument !  Do  I  ever  argue  ? 
I  had  better  have  stayed  away  if  that  is  the  way  they 
think  of  me.  A  telescope,  and  a  two-inch  door,  and  not 
be  allowed  perhaps  to  open  my  mouth !  There  is  some- 
thing exceedingly  unjust  in  the  opinions  men  entertain  of 
women." 


NEEDFUL    KETUKNS  423 

"  Not  my  Frank,  my  dear.  That  is  where  he  differs 
from  all  the  other  young  men  in  the  world.  He  has  the 
most  correct  and  yet  exalted  views;  such  as  poets  had, 
when  there  were  any.  If  you  could  only  hear  him  going 
on  about  you,  before  he  got  that  wicked  knock,  I  mean,  of 
course — his  opinions  not  only  of  your  hair  and  face,  nor 
even  your  eyes,  though  all  perfectly  true,  but  your  mind, 
and  your  intellect,  and  disposition,  and  power  of  perceiv- 
ing what  people  are,  and  then  your  conversation — almost 
too  good  for  us,  because  of  want  of  exercise — and  then, 
well,  I  really  forget  what  came  next." 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Gilham,  it  is  all  so  absurd  !  How  could  he 
talk  such  nonsense  ?  I  don't  like  to  hear  of  such  things  ; 
and  I  cannot  believe  there  could  be  anything  to  come  next." 

"  Oh  yes,  there  was,  my  dear,  now  you  remind  me  of  it. 
It  was  about  the  small  size  of  your  ears,  and  the  lovely 
curves  inside  them.  He  had  found  out  in  some  ancient 
work — for  I  believe  he  could  hold  his  own  in  Greek  and 
Latin,  even  with  Mr.  Penniloe — that  a  well-shaped  ear  is 
one  of  the  rarest  of  all  feminine  perfections.  That  made 
him  think,  no  doubt,  of  yours,  for  men  are  quite  babies 
when  they  are  in  love ;  and  he  found  yours  according  to 
the  highest  standard.  Men  seem  to  make  all  those  rules 
about  us  simply  according  to  their  own  ideas !  What 
rules  do  we  ever  make  about  them  ?" 

"  I  am  so  glad  that  you  look  at  things  in  that  way," 
Christie  answered,  with  her  fingers  going  slyly  up  to  her 
hair,  to  let  her  ears  know  what  was  thought  of  them  ;  "  be- 
cause I  was  afraid  that  you  were  too  much — well,  perhaps, 
that  thinking  so  much  of  your  son,  you  might  look  at 
things  one-sidedly.  And  yet  I  might  have  known  from 
your  unusual  common-sense.  But  I  do  believe  Dr.  Gronow 
is  coming  back,  and  I  have  not  even  got  my  cloak  off ! 
Wait  a  bit  till  things  come  round  a  little.  A  telescope 
and  a  two-inch  door !  One  had  better  go  about  in  a  coal- 
sack  and  curl-papers.  Not  that  I  ever  want  such  things — 
curves  enough  in  my  ears,  perhaps.  But  really  I  must 
make  myself  a  little  decent.  They  have  taken  my  things 
up  to  my  old  room,  I  suppose.  Try  to  keep  him  here  till 
I  come  back.  He  says  that  I  get  up  arguments.  Let  me 
get  up  one  with  him." 


424  PERLYCROSS 

"  My  orders  are  as  stern  as  they  are  sensible,"  Dr. 
Gronow  declared,  when  she  had  returned,  beautifully 
dressed  and  charming,  and  had  thus  attacked  him  with 
even  more  of  blandishment  than  argument.  "  Your  broth- 
er you  may  see,  but  not  to  talk  much  at  one  time  to  him, 
for  his  head  is  in  a  peculiar  state,  and  he  does  much  more 
than  he  ought  to  do.  He  insists  upon  doing  everything, 
which  means  perpetual  attention  to  his  friend.  But  he 
does  it  all  as  if  by  instinct,  apparently  without  knowing 
it ;  and  that  he  should  do  it  all  to  perfection  is  a  very 
noble  proof  of  the  thoroughness  of  his  grounding.  The 
old  school,  the  old  school  of  training — there  is  nothing 
like  it,  after  all.  Any  mere  sciolist,  any  empiric,  any 
smatterer  of  the  new  medical  course — and  where  would 
Frank  Gilham's  arm  be  now  ?  Not  in  a  state  of  lenitive 
pain,  sanative,  and  in  some  degree  encouraging,  but  in  a 
condition  of  incipient  mortification.  For  this  is  a  case  of 
compound  comminuted  fracture  so  severe  that  my  own 
conviction  was — however,  no  more  of  that  to  you  two  ladies. 
Only  feel  assured  that  no  more  could  be  done  for  the  pa- 
tient in  the  best  hospital  in  London.  And  talking  of  up- 
start schools,  indeed,  and  new-fangled  education,  have 
you  heard  what  the  boys  have  done  at  Perlycross  ?  I 
heard  the  noise  upstairs,  and  I  was  obliged  to  shut  the 
window,  although  it  is  such  a  soft  spring  day.  I  was  go- 
ing down  the  hill  to  stop  it  when  I  met  Miss  Fox.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  jokes  I  ever  knew." 

"  Oh,  do  tell  us.  We  have  not  heard  a  word  about  it. 
But  I  am  beginning  to  think  that  this  is  not  at  all  a  com- 
mon place.  I  am  never  surprised  at  anything  that  hap- 
pens at  Perlycross."  This  was  not  a  loyal  speech  on  the 
part  of  the  fair  Christie. 

"From  what  I  have  heard  of  that  Moral-Force  man," 
Mrs.  Gilham  remarked,  with  slow  shake  of  her  head,  "  I 
fear  that  his  system  would  work  better  in  a  future  exist- 
ence than  as  we  are  now.  From  what  my  son  told  me, 
before  his  accident,  I  foresaw  that  it  must  lead  up  to 
something  quite  outrageous.  Nothing  ever  answers  long 
that  goes  against  all  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors." 

"  Excuse  me  for  a  minute  ;  I  must  first  see  how  things 
are  going  on  upstairs.  As  soon  as  I  am  at  liberty  I  will 


NEEDFUL    RETURNS  425 

tell  you  what  I  saw,  though  I  like  the  march  of  intellect 
when  discipline  is  over  it." 

Dr.  Gronow,  who  was  smiling,  which  he  seldom  was,  ex- 
cept after  whirling  out  a  two-ounce  trout,  went  gently  up- 
stairs, and  returned  in  a  few  minutes  and  sat  down  to  tell 
his  little  tale. 

"Everything  there  going  on  as  well  as  can  be.  Your 
brother  is  delighted  to  hear  that  you  are  come.  But  the 
other  patient  must  not  hear  a  word  about  it  yet.  We 
don't  want  any  rapid  action  of  the  heart.  Well,  what  the 
young  scamps  have  done  is  just  this.  The  new  school- 
master has  abolished  canes,  you  know,  and  birches,  and 
every  kind  of  physical  compulsion.  He  exclaims  against 
coercion,  and  pronounces  that  boys  are  to  be  guided  by 
their  hearts  instead  of  being  governed  by  their — pardon 
me,  a  word  not  acknowledged  in  the  language  of  these 
loftier  days.  This  gentleman  seems  to  have  abolished  the 
old  system  of  the  puerile  body  and  mind  without  putting 
anything  of  cogency  in  its  place.  He  has  introduced  nov- 
elties, very  excellent  no  doubt,  if  the  boys  would  only 
take  to  them  with  intellects  as  lofty  as  his  own.  But  that 
is  the  very  thing  the  boys  won't  do.  I  am  a  Liberal — so  far 
as  feelings  go  when  not  overpowered  by  the  judgment — 
but  I  must  acknowledge  that  the  best  extremes  of  life, 
the  boyhood  made  of  nature  and  the  age  made  of  experi- 
ence, are  equally  staunch  in  their  Toryism.  But  this  man's 
great  word  is — Reform.  As  long  the  boys  thought  it 
meant  their  benches,  and  expected  to  have  soft  cushions 
on  them,  they  were  highly  pleased,  and  looked  forward  to 
this  tribute  to  a  part  which  had  hitherto  been  anything 
but  sacred.  Their  mothers,  too,  encouraged  it,  on  account 
of  wear  and  tear  ;  but  their  fathers  could  not  see  why  they 
should  sit  softer  at  their  books  than  they  had  to  do  at 
their  trenchers. 

"  But  yesterday,  unluckily,  the  whole  of  it  came  out. 
There  arrived  a  great  package,  by  old  Hill,  the  carrier, 
who  has  had  his  van  mended  that  was  blown  over,  and  out 
rushed  the  boys,  without  asking  any  leave,  to  bring  in 
their  comfortable  cushions.  All  they  found  was  a  great 
blackboard,  swinging  on  a  pillar,  with  a  socket  at  the 
back,  and  a  staple  and  chain  to  adjust  it.  Toogood  ex- 


426  PERLYCKOSS 

pected  them  to  be  in  raptures,  but  instead  of  that  they  all 
went  into  sulks  ;  and  the  little  fellows  would  not  look  at 
it,  having  heard  of  black  magic  and  witchcraft.  Toogood 
called  it  a  '  Demonstration-table,  for  the  exhibition  of  Ob- 
ject-lessons.' 

"  Mr.  Penniloe,  as  you  may  suppose,  had  long  been  an- 
noyed and  unhappy  about  the  new  man's  doings  ;  but  he  is 
not  supreme  in  the  week-day  school,  as  he  is  on  Sunday, 
and  he  tried  to  make  the  best  of  it  till  the  right  man 
should  come  home.  And  I  cannot  believe  that  he  went 
away  on  purpose  to-day  in  order  to  let  them  have  it  out. 
But  the  boys  found  out  that  he  was  going,  and  there  is 
nobody  else  they  care  twopence  for. 

"  Everybody  says,  except  their  mothers,  that  they  must 
have  put  their  heads  together  overnight,  or  how  could  they 
have  acted  with  such  unity  and  precision?  Not  only  in 
design  but  in  execution  the  accomplished  tactician  stands 
confessed.  Instead  of  attacking  the  enemy  at  once,  when 
many  might  have  hastened  to  his  rescue,  they  deferred 
operations  until  to-day,  and  even  then  waited  for  the 
proper  moment.  They  allowed  him  to  exhaust  all  the  best 
of  his  breath  in  his  usual  frothy  oration — for,  like  most  of 
such  men,  he  can  spout  forever,  and  finds  it  much  easier 
than  careful  teaching. 

"Then,  as  he  leaned  back,  with  pantings  in  his  chest 
and  eyes  turned  up  at  his  own  eloquence,  two  of  the  big- 
gest boys  flung  a  piece  of  clothes-line  round  his  arms  from 
behind,  and  knotted  it,  while  another  slipped  under  the 
desk,  and  buckled  his  ankles  together  with  a  satchel-strap 
before  he  knew  what  he  was  doing.  Then  as  he  began  to 
shout  and  bellow,  scarcely  yet  believing  it,  they  with  much 
panting  and  blowing,  protrusion  of  tongues,  and  grunts  of 
exertion,  some  working  at  his  legs,  and  some  shouldering 
at  his  loins,  and  others  hauling  on  the  clothes-line,  but  all 
with  perfect  harmony  of  action,  fetched  their  preceptor  to 
the  Demonstration-board,  and  laying  him  with  his  back  flat 
against  it,  strapped  his  feet  to  the  pedestal ;  then  pulling 
out  the  staple  till  the  board  was  perpendicular,  they  se- 
cured his  coat-collar  to  the  shaft  above  it,  and  there  he 
was — as  upright  as  need  be,  but  without  the  power  to 
move,  except  at  his  own  momentous  peril.  Then  to  make 


NEEDFUL    RETURNS  427 

quite  sure  of  him,  a  clever  little  fellow  got  upon  a  stool, 
and  drew  back  his  hair,  bright  red,  and  worn  long  like  a 
woman's,  and  tied  it  with  a  book-tape  behind  the  pillar. 
You  may  imagine  how  the  poor  preceptor  looks.  Any 
effort  of  his  to  release  himself  will  crush  him  beneath  the 
great  Demonstration  like  a  mouse  in  a  figure-of-four  trap." 

"  But  arc  we  to  believe,  Dr.  Gronow,"  asked  Christie, 
"  that  you  came  away,  and  left  the  poor  man  in  that  help- 
less state  ?" 

"  Undoubtedly  I  did.  It  is  no  concern  of  mine,  and  the 
boys  had  only  just  got  their  pea-shooters.  He  has  not  had 
half  enough  to  cure  him  yet.  Besides,  they  had  my  prom- 
ise, for  the  boys  have  got  the  keys.  They  are  charging  a 
penny  for  a  view  of  this  Reformer,  but  they  won't  let  any 
one  in  without  a  promise  of  strict  neutrality.  I  gave  a 
shilling,  for  I  am  sure  they  have  deserved  it.  Somebody 
will  be  sure  to  cast  him  loose  in  plenty  of  time  for  his  own 
good.  This  will  be  of  the  greatest  service  to  him,  and  cure 
him  for  a  long  time  of  big  words." 

"  But  suppose  he  falls  forward  upon  his  face,  and  the 
board  falls  upon  him  and  suffocates  him.  Why,  it  would 
be  the  death  of  Mr.  Penniloe.  You  are  wanted  here,  of 
course,  Dr.  Gronow  ;  but  I  shall  put  my  bonnet  on,  and 
rush  down  the  hill  to  the  release  of  the  Higher  Educa- 
tion." 

"Don't  rush  too  fast,  Miss  Fox.  There's  a  tree  blown 
down  across  the  lane  after  you  turn  out  of  the  one  you 
came  by.  We  ought  to  have  had  it  cleared,  but  they  say 
it  will  take  a  fortnight  to  make  some  of  the  main  roads 
passable  again.  I  would  not  go  if  I  were  you.  Somebody 
will  have  set  him  free  before  you  get  there.  I'll  go  out 
and  listen.  With  the  wind  in  the  north  we  can  hear  their 
hurrahing  quite  plainly  at  the  gate.  You  can  come  with 
me,  if  you  like." 

"Oh,  it  is  no  hurrahing,  Dr.  Gronow!  How  can  you 
deceive  me  so  ?  It  is  a  very  sad  sound  indeed,"  said 
Christie,  as  they  stood  at  the  gate,  and  she  held  her  pret- 
ty palms  like  funnels  for  her  much-admired  ears.  "  It 
sounds  like  a  heap  of  boys  weeping  and  wailing.  I  fear 
that  something  sadly  vindictive  has  been  done.  One  never 
can  have  a  bit  of  triumph  without  that." 


428  PEELYCROSS 

She  scarcely  knew  the  full  truth  of  her  own  words.  It 
was  indeed  an  epoch  of  Nemesis.  This  fourth  generation 
of  boys  in  that  village  are  beginning  to  be  told  of  it,  on 
knees  that  shake  with  time  as  well  as  memory.  And  thus 
it  befell. 

"  What,  lock  me  out  of  my  own  school  door  !  Can't 
come  in  without  I  pay  a  penny  !  May  do  in  Spain,  but 
won't  do  here." 

A  strong  foot  was  thrust  into  the  double  of  the  door,  a 
rattle  of  the  handle  ran  up  the  lock  and  timber,  and  con- 
science made  a  coward  of  the  boy  that  took  the  pennies. 
An  Odic  Force,  as  the  present  quaky  period  calls  it,  per- 
meated doubtless  from  the  Master  hand.  Back  went  the 
boy,  and  across  him  strode  a  man,  rather  tall,  wiry,  torve 
of  aspect,  hyporhined  with  a  terse  mustache,  hatted  with 
a  vast  sombrero.  At  a  glance  he  had  the  whole  situation 
in  his  eye  and  his  heart — worst  of  all,  in  his  strong  arm. 
He  flung  off  a  martial  cloak  that  might  have  cumbered  ac- 
tion, stood  at  the  end  of  the  long  desk,  squared  his  shoul- 
ders and  eyebrows,  and  shouted  : 

"  Boys,  here's  a  noise  !" 

As  this  famous  battle-cry  rang  through  the  room  every 
-mother's  darling  knew  what  was  coming.  Consternation 
is  too  weak  a  word.  Grinning  mouths  fell  into  graves  of 
terror,  castaway  pea-shooters  quivered  on  the  floor,  fat  legs 
rattled  in  their  boots,  and  flew  about,  helter-skelter,  any- 
where, to  save  their  dear  foundations.  Vain  it  was ;  BO 
vanishing-point  could  be  discovered.  Wisdom  was  come, 
to  be  justified  of  her  children. 

The  school-master  of  the  ancient  school  marched  with  a 
grim  smile  to  the  door,  locked  it,  and  pocketed  the  key. 
Three  little  fellows,  untaught  as  yet  the  expediency  of  let- 
ting well  alone,  had  taken  the  bunch  of  keys,  and  brought 
forth  and  were  riding  disdainfully  the  three  canes  dor- 
mant under  the  new  dispensation.  "  Bring  me  those  im- 
plements," said  Sergeant  Jakes ;  "  perhaps  they  may  do  to 
begin  with."  He  arranged  them  lovingly,  and  then  spoke 
wisely. 

"  My  dear  young  friends,  it  is  very  sad  to  find  that  while 
I  have  been  in  foreign  parts  you  have  not  been  studying 
discipline.  The  gentleman  whom  you  have  treated  thus 


NEEDFUL    RETURNS  429 

will  join  me,  I  trust,  by  the  time  I  have  done,  in  maintain- 
ing that  I  do  not  bear  the  rod  in  vain.  Any  boy  who 
crawls  under  a  desk  may  rest  assured  that  he  will  get  it  ten 
times  worse." 

Pity  draws  a  mourning  veil,  though  she  keeps  a  place 
to  peep  through,  when  her  highly  respected  cousin,  Jus- 
tice, is  thus  compelled  to  assert  herself.  Enough  that 
very  few  indeed  of  the  highly  cultured  boys  of  Perly cross 
found  themselves  in  a  position  that  day  to  enjoy  their  din- 
ners as  usual. 


CHAPTER    XL 
HOME    AND    FOREIGN 

Six  weeks  was  the  average  time  allowed  for  the  voyage 
to  and  fro  of  the  schooner  Montilla  (owned  by  Messrs. 
Besley,  of  Exeter)  from  Topsham  to  Cadiz,  or  whatever 
it  might  be ;  and  little  uneasiness  was  ever- felt  if  her  ab- 
sence extended  to  even  three  months.  For  Spaniards  are 
not  in  the  awkward  habit  of  cracking  whips  at  old  Time 
when  he  is  out  at  grass,  much  less  of  jumping  at  his  fore- 
lock ;  and  Iberian  Time  is  nearly  always  out  at  grass. 
When  a  thing  will  not  help  to  do  itself  to-day,  who  knows 
that  it  may  not  be  in  a  kinder  mood  to-morrow  ?  The 
spirit  of  worry  and  unreasonable  hurry  is  a  deadly  blast 
to  all  serenity  of  mind  and  dignity  of  demeanor,  and  can 
be  in  harmony  with  nothing  but  bad  weather.  Thus  the 
Mantilla's  period  was  a  fluctuating  numeral. 

As  yet  English  produce  was  of  high  repute,  and  the 
Continent  had  not  been  barb-wired  by  ourselves  against 
our  merchandise.  The  Spaniards  happened  to  be  in  the 
vein  for  working,  and  thus  on  this  winter  trip  the  good 
trader's  hold  was  quickly  cleared  of  English  solids  and  re- 
filled with  Spanish  fluids;  and  so  the  Montilla  was  ready 
for  voyage  homeward  the  very  day  her  passenger  rejoined. 
This  pleased  him  well,  for  he  was  anxious  to  get  back, 
though  not  at  all  aware  of  the  urgent  need  arising.  Luck- 
ily for  him  and  for  all  on  board,  the  schooner  lost  a  day 
in  getting  out  to  sea,  and  thus  ran  into  the  rough  fringes 
alone  of  the  great  storm  that  swept  the  English  coast  and 
Channel.  In  fact,  she  made  good  weather  across  the  Bay 
of  Biscay,  and  ran  into  her  berth  at  Topsham  several  days 
before  she  was  counted  due. 

The  sergeant's  first  duty  was,  of  course,  to  report  him- 
self at  Walderscourt ;  and  this  he  had  done  before  he 


HOME    AND    FOREIGN  431 

made  that  auspicious  re-entry  upon  his  own  domain.  The 
ladies  did  not  at  all  expect  to  see  him  for  days  or  even 
for  weeks  to  come,  having  heard  nothing  whatever  of  his  do- 
ings ;  for  the  post  beyond  France  was  so  uncertain  then 
that  he  had  received  orders  not  to  write. 

When  Jakes  was  shown  into  the  room,  Lady  Waldron 
was  sitting  alone,  and  much  agitated  by  a  letter  just  re- 
ceived from  Mr.  Webber,  containing  his  opinion  of  all 
that  had  happened  at  Perliton  on  Wednesday.  Feeling 
her  unfitness  for  another  trial,  she  sent  for  her  daughter 
before  permitting  the  envoy  to  relate  his  news.  Then  she 
strove  to  look  calmly  at  him,  and  to  maintain  her  cold 
dignity  as  of  yore ;  but  the  power  was  no  longer  hers. 
Months  of  miserable  suspense,  perpetual  brooding,  and 
want  of  sleep  had  lowered  the  standard  of  her  pride,  and 
nothing  but  a  burst  of  painful  sobs  saved  her  from  a 
worse  condition. 

The  sergeant  stood  hesitating  by  the  door,  feeling  that 
he  had  no  invitation  to  see  this,  and  not  presuming  to  offer 
comfort.  But  Miss  Waldron  seeing  the  best  thing  to  do, 
called  him  and  bade  him  tell  his  news  in  brief. 

"  May  it  please  your  ladyship,"  the  veteran  began,  star- 
ing deeply  into  his  new  Spanish  hat,  about  which  he  had 
received  some  compliments,  "  all  I  have  to  tell  your  lady- 
ship is  for  the  honour  of  the  family.  Your  ladyship's  broth- 
er is  as  innocent  as  I  be.  He  hath  had  naught  to  do  with 
any  wicked  doing  here.  He  hath  not  got  his  money,,  but 
he  means  to  have  it." 

"  Thank  God  !"  cried  Lady  Waldron,  but  whether  about 
the  money  or  the  innocence  was  not  clear ;  and  then  she 
turned  away  to  have  things  out  with  herself ;  and  Jakes 
was  sent  into  the  next  room,  and  sat  down,  thanking  the 
crown  of  his  hat  that  it  covered  the  whole  of  his  domes- 
tic interests. 

When  the  feminine  excitement  was  in  some  degree 
spent,  and  the  love  of  particulars  (which  can  never  long 
be  quenched  by  any  depth  of  tears)  was  reviving,  Ser- 
geant Jakes  was  well  received,  and  told  his  adventures  like 
a  veteran.  A  young  man  is  apt  to  tell  things  hotly,  as 
if  nothing  had  ever  come  to  pass  before ;  but  a  steady- 
goer  knows  that  the  sun  was  shining  and  the  rain  was 


432  PERLYCEOSS 

raining  ere  he  felt  either.  Alike  the  whole  must  be  cut 
short. 

It  appears  that  the  sergeant  had  a  fine  voyage  out,  and 
picked  up  a  good  deal  of  his  lapsed  Spanish  lore  from 
two  worthy  Spanish  hands  among  the  crew.  Besley,  of 
Exeter,  did  things  well  —  as  the  manner  of  that  city  is  — 
victuals  were  good,  and  the  crew  right  loyal,  as  generally 
happens  in  that  case.  Captain  Binstock  stood  in  awe  of 
his  elder  brother  the  butler,  and  never  got  out  of  his 
head  its  original  belief  that  the  sergeant  was  his  brother's 
school-master.  Against  that  idea  chronology  strove  hazi- 
ly, and  therefore  vainly.  The  sergeant  strode  the  deck 
with  a  stick  he  bought  at  Exeter,  spoke  of  his  experience 
in  transports,  regarded  the  masts  as  a  pair  of  his  own 
canes — in  a  word,  was  master  of  the  ship  whenever  there 
was  nothing  to  be  done  to  her.  A  finer  time  he  never 
had,  for  he  was  much  too  wiry  to  be  sea-sick.  All  the 
crew  liked  him,  whether  present  or  absent,  and  never 
laughed  at  him  but  in  the  latter  case.  lie  corrected  their 
English  when  it  did  not  suit  his  own,  and  thus  created  a 
new  form  of  discipline.  Most  of  this  he  recounted  in  his 
pungent  manner  without  a  word  of  self-laudation,  and  it 
would  have  been  a  treat  to  Christie  Fox  to  hear  him  ;  but 
his  present  listeners  were  too  anxious  about  the  result  to 
enjoy  this  part  of  it. 

Then  he  went  to  the  city  to  which  he  was  despatched, 
and  presented  his  letters  to  the  few  he  could  find  entitled 
to  receive  them.  The  greater  part  were  gone  beyond  the 
world  of  letters,  for  twenty-five  years  make  a  sad  gap 
in  the  post.  And  of  the  three  survivors,  one  alone  cared 
to  be  troubled  with  the  by-gone  days.  But  that  one  was 
a  host  in  himself,  a  loyal  retainer  of  the  ancient  family 
in  the  time  of  its  grandeur,  and  now  in  possession  of  an 
office  as  well  as  a  nice  farm  on  the  hills,  both  of  which 
he  had  obtained  through  their  influence.  He  was  de- 
lighted to  hear  once  more  of  the  beautiful  lady  he  had 
formerly  adored.  He  received  the  sergeant  as  his  guest, 
and  told  him  all  that  was  known  of  the  present  state  of 
things  concerning  the  young  count  —  as  he  still  called 
him  —  and  all  that  was  likely  to  come  of  it. 

It  was  true  that  the   count  had  urged  his  claim  and 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN  433 

brought  evidence  in  support  of  it ;  but  at  present  there 
seemed  to  be  very  little  chance  of  his  getting  the  money 
for  years  to  come,  even  if  he  should  do  so  in  the  end; 
and  for  that  he  must  display,  as  they  said,  fresh  powers 
of  survivorship.  He  had  been  advised  to  make  an  offer 
of  release  and  quitclaim  upon  receipt  of  the  sum  origi- 
nally advanced  without  any  interest ;  but  he  had  answered 
sternly,  "  Either  I  will  have  all  or  none." 

The  amount  was  so  large  that  he  could  not  expect  to 
receive  the  whole  immediately,  and  he  was  ready  to  accept 
it  by  instalments ;  but  the  authorities  would  not  pay  a 
penny,  nor  attempt  an  arrangement  with  him  for  fear  of 
admitting  their  liability.  In  a  very  brief  and  candid  but 
by  no  means  honest  manner,  they  refused  to  be  bound  at 
all  by  the  action  of  their  fathers.  When  that  was  of  no 
avail,  because  the  city  tolls  were  in  the  bond,  they  began 
to  call  for  proof  of  this  and  proof  of  that,  and  set  up 
every  possible  legal  obstacle,  hoping  to  exhaust  the  claim- 
ant's sadly  dwindled  revenues.  Above  all,  they  main- 
tained that  two  of  the  lives  in  the  assurance-deed  were 
still  subsisting,  although  their  lapse  was  admitted  in  their 
own  minutes  and  registered  in  the  record.  And  it  was 
believed  that  in  this  behalf  they  were  having  recourse  to 
personation. 

That  scandalous  pretext  must  be  demolished  before  it 
could  become  of  prime  moment  to  the  count  to  prove  the 
decease  of  his  brother-in-law ;  and  certain  it  was  that  no 
such  dramatic  incident  had  occurred  in  the  city  as  that 
which  her  ladyship  had  witnessed  by  means  of  her  imagi- 
nation. With  a  long  fight  before  him,  and  very  scanty 
sinews  of  war  to  maintain  it,  the  claimant  had  betaken 
himself  to  Madrid,  where  he  had  powerful  friends,  and 
might  consult  the  best  legal  advisers.  But  his  prospects 
were  not  encouraging  ;  for  unless  he  could  deposit  a  good 
round  sum  for  expenses  of  process  and  long  inquiry,  and 
even  counter-bribing,  no  one  was  likely  to  take  up  his  case, 
so  strong  and  so  tough  were  the  forces  in  possession. 
Rash  friends  went  so  far  as  to  recommend  him  to  take  the 
bull  by  the  horns  at  once,  to  lay  forcible  hands  upon  the 
city  tolls  without  any  order  from  a  law-court,  for  the  deed 
was  so  drastic  that  this  power  was  conferred ;  but  he  saw 
19 


434  PEKLYCEOSS 

that  to  do  this  would  simply  be  to  play  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  For  thus  he  would  probably  find  himself  out- 
lawed, or  perhaps  cast  into  prison,  with  the  lapse  of  his 
own  life  imminent ;  for  the  family  of  the  Barcas  were  no 
longer  supreme  in  the  land,  as  they  used  to  be. 

"  Ungrateful  thieves  !  Vile  pigs  of  burghers  !"  Lady 
Waldron  exclaimed,  with  just  indignation.  "  My  grand- 
father would  have  strung  them  up  with  straw  in  their 
noses,  and  set  them  on  fire.  They  sneer  at  the  family  of 
Barca,  do  they  ?  It  shall  trample  them  under  foot.  My 
poor  brother  shall  have  my  last  penny  to  punish  them  ;  for 
that  I  have  wronged  him  in  my  heart.  Ours  is  a  noble 
race,  and  most  candid.  We  never  deign  to  stoop  ourselves 
to  mistrust  or  suspicion.  I  trust,  Master  Sergeant,  you 
have  not  spoken  so  to  the  worthy  and  loyal  Diego  that 
my  brother  may  ever  hear  of  the  thoughts  introduced  into 
my  mind  concerning  him  ?" 

"  No,  my  lady,  not  a  word.  Everything  I  did  or  said 
was  friendly,  straightforward,  and  favourable  to  the  hon- 
our of  the  family." 

"  You  are  a  brave  man  ;  you  are  a  faithful  soldier.  For- 
get that  by  the  force  of  circumstances  I  was  compelled  to 
have  such  opinions.  But  can  you  recite  to  me  the  names 
of  the  two  persons  whose  lives  they  have  replenished  ?" 

"  Yes,  my  lady.  Senor  Diego  wrote  them  down  in  this 
book  on  purpose.  He  thought  that  your  ladyship  might 
know  something  of  them." 

"  For  one  I  have  knowledge  of  everything ;  but  the  other 
I  do  not  know,"  Lady  Waldron  said,  after  reading  the 
names.  "  This  poor  senorita  was  one  of  my  bridesmaids, 
known  to  me  from  my  childhood.  La  Giralda  was  her 
name  of  intimacy — what  you  call  her  nickname — by  reason 
of  her  stature.  Her  death  I  can  prove  too  well  and  ex- 
pose any  imitation.  But  the  Spanish  nation  —  you  like 
them  much?  You  find  them  gentle,  brave,  amiable,  sober, 
not  as  the  English  are,  generous,  patriotic,  honourable  ?" 

"  Quite  as  noble  and  good,  my  lady,  as  we  found  them 
five-and-twenty  years  agone.  And  I  hope  that  the  noble 
count  will  get  his  money.  A  bargain  is  a  bargain,  as  we 
say  here.  And  if  they  are  so  honourable — " 

"  Ah,  that  is  quite  a  different  thing.     Inez,  I  must  leave 


HOME   AND   FOREIGN  435 

you.  I  desire  some  time  to  think.  My  mind  is  very  much 
relieved  of  one  part,  although  of  another  still  more  dis- 
tressed. I  request  you  to  see  to  the  good  refreshment  of 
this  honourable  and  faithful  soldier." 

Lady  Waldron  acknowledged  the  sergeant's  low  bow 
with  a  kind  inclination  of  her  Andalusian  head  (which  is 
something  in  the  headway  among  the  foremost),  and  left 
the  room  with  a  lighter  step  than  her  heart  had  allowed 
her  for  many  a  week. 

"  This  will  never  do,  sergeant ;  this  won't  do  at  all," 
said  Miss  Waldron,  coming  up  to  him  as  soon  as  she  had 
shut  the  door  behind  her  lofty  mother.  "  I  know  by  your 
countenance,  and  the  way  you  were  standing,  and  the  side- 
way  you  sit  down  again,  that  you  have  not  told  us  every- 
thing. That  is  not  the  right  way  to  go  on,  Sergeant 
Jakes." 

"  Miss  Nicie  !"  cried  Jakes,  with  a  forlorn  hope  of 
frightening  her,  for  she  had  sat  upon  his  knee  many  a 
time  ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  craving  stories  of  good  boys 
and  bad  boys.  But  now  the  eyes  which  he  used  to  fill 
with  any  emotion  he  chose  to  call  for  could  produce  that 
effect  upon  his  own. 

"  Can  you  think  that  I  don't  understand  you  ?"  said 
Nicie,  never  releasing  him  from  her  eyes.  "  What  was 
the  good  of  telling  me  all  those  stories  when  I  was  a  little 
thing,  except  for  me  to  understand  you  ?  When  anybody 
tells  me  a  story  that  is  true,  it  is  no  good  for  him  to  try 
anything  else.  I  get  so  accustomed  to  his  way  that  I 
catch  him  out  in  a  moment." 

"  But  my  dear,  my  dear  Miss  Nicie" — the  sergeant  looked 
all  about  as  in  a  large  appeal  instead  of  a  steady  gaze — 
"  if  I  have  told  you  a  single  word  that  is  not  as  true  as 
gospel,  may  I — " 

"  Now  don't  be  profane,  Sergeant  Jakes.  That  was  the 
custom  of  the  war-time.  And  don't  be  crooked — which 
is  even  worse.  I  never  called  in  question  any  one  thing 
you  have  said.  All  I  know  is  that  you  have  stopped  short. 
You  used  to  do  just  the  same  with  me  when  things  I  was 
too  young  to  hear  came  in.  You  are  easier  to  read  than 
one  of  your  own  copies.  What  have  you  kept  in  the  back- 
ground, you  unfaithful  soldier  ?" 


436  PEKLYCEOSS 

"  Oh  miss,  how  you  do  remind  me  of  the  colonel !  Not 
that  he  ever  looked  half  as  fierce.  But  he  used  to  say, 
*  Jakes,  what  a  deep  rogue  you  are  !'  meaning  how  deeply 
he  could  trust  me  against  all  his  enemies.  But,  miss,  I 
have  given  my  word  about  this." 

"Then  take  it  back,  as  some  people  do  their  presents. 
What  is  the  good  of  being  a  deep  rogue  if  you  can't  be  a 
shallow  one  ?  I  should  hope  you  would  rather  be  a  rogue 
to  other  people  than  to  me.  I  will  never  speak  to  you 
again  unless  you  show  now  that  you  can  trust  me  as  my 
dear  father  used  to  trust  in  you.  No  secrets  from  me,  if 
you  please." 

"  Well,  miss,  it  was  for  your  sake  more  than  anybody 
else's.  But  you  must  promise,  honour  bright,  not  to  let 
her  ladyship  know  of  it ;  for  it  might  be  the  death  of  her. 
It  took  me  by  surprise,  and  it  hath  almost  knocked  me 
over;  for  I  never  could  have  thought  there  was  more 
troubles  coming.  But  who  do  you  think  I  ran  up  against, 
in  Exeter  ?" 

"  How  can  I  tell  ?  Don't  keep  me  waiting.  That  kind 
of  riddle  is  so  hateful  always." 

"  Master  Tom,  Miss  Nicie  !  Your  brother,  Master  Tom  ! 
4  Sir  Thomas  Waldron '  his  proper  name  is  now.  You 
know  they  have  got  a  new  oil  they  call  gas  to  light  the 
public  places  of  the  big  towns  with,  and  it  makes  every- 
thing as  bright  as  day,  and  brighter  than  some  of  the  days 
we  get  now.  Well,  I  was  intending  to  come  on  last  night 
by  the  Bristol  mail,  and  wait  about  till  you  was  up ;  and 
as  I  .was  standing  with  my  knapsack  on  my  shoulder,  to 
see  her  come  in  from  Plymouth,  in  she  comes,  and  a  tall 
young  man  dressed  all  in  black  gets  down  slowly  from  the 
roof,  and  stands  looking  about  very  queerly. 

" '  Bain't  you  going  no  further,  sir  ?'  says  the  guard  to 
him  very  civil,  as  he  locked  the  bags  in ;  '  only  allows  us 
three  minutes  and  a  half ' — for  the  young  man  seemed  as 
if  he  did  not  care  what  time  it  was. 

" '  No.  I  can't  go  home,'  says  he,  as  if  nothing  mat- 
tered to  him.  I  was  handing  up  my  things,  to  get  up 
myself,  when  the  tone  of  his  voice  took  me  all  of  a  heap. 

"  '  What,  Master  Tom  !'  says  I,  going  up  to  him. 

"  *  Who  are   you  ?'   says  he.     '  Master  Tom,  indeed  !' 


HOME   AND   FOREIGN  437 

For  I  had  this  queer  sort  of  hat  on  and  cloak,  like  a 
blessed  foreigner. 

"  Well,  when  I  told  him  who  I  was  he  did  not  seem  at 
all  as  he  used  to  be,  but  as  if  I  had  done  him  a  great  in- 
jury ;  and  as  for  his  luggage,  it  would  have  gone  on  with 
the  coach  if  the  guard  had  not  called  out  about  it. 

"  *  Come  in  here,'  he  says  to  me  as  if  I  was  a  dog,  him 
that  was  always  so  well-spoken  and  polite!  And  he 
turned  sharp  into  the  Old  London  Inn,  leaving  all  his 
luggage  on  the  stones  outside. 

" '  Private  sitting-room  and  four  candles !'  he  called  out, 
marching  up  the  stairs,  and  making  me  a  sign  to  follow 
him.  Everybody  seemed  to  know  him  there,  and  I  told 
them  to  fetch  his  things  in. 

" '  No  fire  !  Hot  enough  already.  Put  the  candles 
down  and  go,'  said  he  to  the  waiter ;  and  then  he  locked 
the  door  and  threw  the  key  upon  the  table.  It  takes  a 
good  deal  to  frighten  me,  miss,  but  I  assure  you  I  was 
trembling,  for  I  never  saw  such  a  pair  of  eyes — not  furious, 
but  so  desperate ;  and  I  should  have  been  but  a  baby  in 
his  hands,  for  he  is  bigger  than  even  his  father  was.  Then 
he  pulled  out  a  newspaper  and  spread  it  among  the  can- 
dles. 

"  *  Now,  you  man  of  Perlycross,'  he  cried, '  you  that 
teach  the  boys,  who  are  going  to  be  grave-robbers,  is  this 
true, or  is  it  all  a  cursed  lie?'  Excuse  me  telling  you, miss, 
exactly  as  he  said  it.  '  The  Lord  in  heaven  help  me,  I  think 
I  shall  go  mad  unless  you  can  tell  me  it  is  all  a  wicked  lie.' 
Up  and  down  the  room  he  walked  as  if  the  boards  would 
sink  under  him,  while  I  was  at  my  wits'  ends,  as  you  may 
well  suppose,  miss. 

" '  I  have  never  heard  a  word  of  any  of  this,  Master 
Tom,'  I  said,  as  soon  as  I  had  read  it ;  for  it  was  all  about 
something  that  came  on  at  Perliton  before  the  magistrates 
last  Wednesday.  '  I  have  been  away  in  foreign  parts.' 

"  Miss  Nicie,  he  changed  to  me  from  that  moment.  I 
had  not  said  a  word  about  how  long  I  was  away,  or  any- 
thing whatever  to  deceive  him.  But  he  looked  at  my  hat 
that  was  lying  on  a  chair,  and  my  cloak  that  was  still  on 
my  back,  as  much  as  to  say,  *  I  ought  to  have  known  it ;' 
and  then  he  said,  *  Give  me  your  hand,  Old  Jakes.  I  beg 


438  PERLYCROSS 

your  pardon  a  thousand  times.  What  a  fool  I  must  be  to 
think  you  would  ever  have  allowed  it !' 

"  This  put  me  in  a  very  awkward  hole,  for  I  was  bound 
to  acknowledge  that  I  had  been  here  when  the  thing  he 
was  so  wild  about  was  done.  But  I  let  him  go  on  and 
have  his  raving  out.  For  men  are  pretty  much  the  same 
as  boys  ;  though  expecting  of  their  own  way  more,  which 
I  try  to  take  out  of  the  young  ones.  But  a  loud  singing 
out  and  a  little  bit  of  stamping  brings  them  into  more 
sense  of  where  they  are. 

"  *  I  landed  at  Plymouth  this  morning,'  he  said,  '  after 
getting  a  letter,  which  had  been  I  don't  know  where,  to 
tell  me  that  my  dear  father,  the  best  man  that  ever  lived, 
was  dead.  I  got  leave  immediately,  and  came  home  to 
comfort  my  mother  and  sister,  and  to  attend  to  all  that 
was  needful.  I  went  into  the  coffee-room  before  the 
coach  was  ready,  and  taking  up  the  papers,  I  find  this ! 
They  talk  of  it  as  if  it  was  a  thing  well  known — a  case  of 
great  interest  in  the  county ;  a  mystery  they  call  it,  a 
very  lively  thing  to  talk  about — The  great  Perlycross 
Mystery,  in  big  letters,  cried  at  every  corner,  made  a  fine 
joke  of  in  every  dirty  pot-house.  It  seems  to  have  been 
going  on  for  months.  Perhaps  it  has  killed  my  mother 
and  my  sister.  It  would  soon  kill  me  if  I  were  there  and 
could  do  nothing.' 

"  Here  I  found  a  sort  of  opening ;  for  the  tears  rolled 
down  his  face  as  he  thought  of  you,  Miss  Nicie,  and  your 
dear  mamma ;  and  the  rage  in  his  heart  seemed  to  turn  into 
grief,  and  he  sat  down  in  one  of  the  trumpery  chairs  that 
they  make  nowadays,  and  it  sprawled  and  squeaked  under 
him,  being  such  an  uncommon  fine  young  man  in  trouble. 
So  I  went  up  to  him  and  stood  before  him,  and  lifted  his 
hands  from  his  face,  as  I  had  done  many's  the  time  when 
he  was  a  little  fellow,  and  broke  his  nose  perhaps  in  his 
bravery.  And  then  he  looked  up  at  me  quite  mild,  and 
said: 

"  *  I  believe  I  am  a  brute,  Jakes.  But  isn't  this  enough 
to  make  me  one  ?' 

"  I  stayed  with  him  all  night,  miss,  for  he  would  not  go  to 
bed,  and  he  wouldn't  have  nothing  for  to  eat  or  drink,  and 
I  was  afraid  to  leave  him  so.  But  I  got  him  at  last  to 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN  439 

smoke  a  bit  of  my  tobacco ;  and  that  seemed  to  make  him 
look  at  things  a  little  better.  I  told  him  all  I  knew,  and 
what  I  had  been  to  Spain  for,  and  how  you  and  her  lady- 
ship were  trying  bravely  to  bear  the  terrible  will  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  then  I  coaxed  him  all  I  could  to  come  along  of 
me,  and  help  you  to  bear  it.  But  he  said  :  '  I  might  take 
him  for  a  coward,  if  I  chose ;  but  come  to  Walderscourt 
he  wouldn't,  and  face  his  mother  and  sister  he  couldn't 
until  he  had  cleared  off  this  terrible  disgrace.' " 

"He  is  frightfully  obstinate,  he  always  was,"  said 
Nicie,  who  had  listened  to  his  tale  with  streaming  eyes; 
"  but  it  would  be  such  a  comfort  to  us  both  to  have  him 
here.  What  has  become  of  him  ?  Where  is  he  now  ?" 

"  That  is  the  very  thing  I  dare  not  tell  you,  miss,  be- 
cause he  made  me  swear  to  keep  it  to  myself.  By  good 
rights,  I  ought  to  have  told  you  nothing ;  but  you  man- 
aged so  to  work  it  out  of  me.  I  would  not  come  away 
from  him  till  I  knew  where  he  would  be,  because  he  was 
in  such  a  state  of  mind.  But  I  softened  him  down  a  good 
bit,  I  believe,  and  he  might  take  a  turn  if  you  were  to  write, 
imploring  of  him.  I  will  take  care  that  he  gets  it,  for  he 
made  me  promise  to  write  and  let  him  know  exactly  how 
I  found  things  here,  after  being  away  so  long.  But  he  is 
that  bitter  against  this  place  that  it  will  take  a  great  deal 
to  bring  him  here.  You  must  work  on  his  love  for  his 
mother,  Miss  Nicie,  and  his  pity  for  both  of  you.  That 
is  the  only  thing  that  touches  him.  And  say  that  it  is  no 
fault  of  Perlycross,  but  strangers  altogether." 

"  You  shall  have  my  letter  before  the  postman  comes, 
so  that  you  may  send  it  with  your  own.  What  a  good 
friend  you  have  been  to  us,  dear  Jakes !  My  mother's 
heart  would  break  at  last  if  she  knew  Tom  was  in  Eng- 
land, and  would  not  come  first  of  all  to  her.  I  can  scarcely 
understand  it.  To  me  it  seems  so  unnatural." 

"  Well,  miss,  you  can  never  tell  by  yourself  how  other 
people  will  take  things — not  even  your  own  brother.  And 
I  think  he  will  soon  come  round,  Miss  Nicie.  According 
to  my  opinion,  it  was  the  first  shock  of  the  thing,  and  the 
way  he  got  it,  that  drove  him  out  of  his  mind  a'most. 
Maybe  he  judges  you  by  himself,  and  fancies  it  would 
only  make  you  worse  to  see  him  with  this  disgrace  upon 


440  PERLYCROSS 

him.  For  that's  what  he  can't  get  out  of  his  head ;  and 
it  would  be  a  terrible  meeting  for  my  lady,  with  all  the 
pride  she  hath  in  her.  I  reckon  'tis  the  Spanish  blood 
that  does  it,  Englishman  as  he  is,  all  over.  But  never 
fear,  Miss  Nicie,  we'll  fetch  him  here,  between  the  two  of 
us,  afore  we  are  much  older.  He  hath  always  been  loving 
in  his  nature,  and  love  will  drive  the  anger  out." 


CHAPTER    XLI 
THE   PRIDE    OF  LIFE 

HARVEY  TREMLETT  kept  his  promise  not  to  leave  the' 
neighbourhood  until  the  result  of  the  grievous  injury 
done  to  Frank  Gilham  should  be  known.  Another  war- 
rant against  him  might  be  issued  for  that  fierce  assault, 
and  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  stand  a  trial,  whatever 
the*  issue  might  be.  What  he  feared  most,  and  would 
have  fled  from,  was  a  charge  of  running  contraband  goods, 
which  might  have  destroyed  a  thriving  trade,  and  sent  him 
and  his  colleagues  across  the  seas.  Rough  and  savage  as 
he  became  (when  his  violent  temper  was  provoked),  and 
scornful  of  home-life  and  quiet  labour,  these  and  other  far 
from  exemplary  traits  were  mainly  the  result  of  his  roving 
habits,  and  the  coarse  and  lawless  company  into  which  he 
had  fallen.  And  it  tended  little  to  his  edification  that  he 
exercised  lordship  over  them  in  virtue  of  superior  strength. 

But  his  nature  was  rather  wild  than  brutal ;  in  its  depths 
were  sparks  and  flashes  of  manly  generosity,  and  even 
warmth  of  true  affection,  for  the  few  who  had  been  kind  to 
him  if  they  took  him  the  right  way  of  his  stubborn  grain. 
He  loved  his  only  daughter  Zip,  although  ashamed  of 
showing  it ;  and  he  was  very  proud  of  his  lineage  and  the 
ancient  name  of  Tremlett.  Thus  Mr.  Penniloe  had  taken 
unawares  the  straightest  road  to  his  good-will  by  adopting 
the  waif  as  an  inmate  of  his  house,  and  treating  her,  not 
as  a  servant,  but  a  child.  That  Zip  should  be  a  lady,  as 
the  daughters  of  that  Norman  race  had  been  for  genera- 
tions, was  the  main  ambition  of  her  father's  life.  He  had 
seen  no  possibility  of  it ;  and  here  was  almost  a  surety  of 
it  unless  she  herself  threw  away  the  chance. 

E-ather  a  pretty  scene  was  toward  for  those  who  are 
fond  of  humanity,  at  the  ruined  Tremlett  mill,  on  the 
19* 


442  PEELYCROSS 

morning  of  Saint  David's  Day.  Harvey  had  taken  to  this 
retreat — and  a  very  lonely  home  it  was — for  sundry  good 
reasons  of  his  own,  the  most  important  of  which  was  not 
intrusted  even  to  his  daughter  or  the  revered  and  beloved 
parson.  This  was  to  prepare  a  refuge  and  a  storehouse 
for  Free-trade,  more  convenient,  better  placed,  larger,  and 
much  safer  than  the  now  notorious  fastness  of  Blackmarsh. 
Here  were  old  buildings  and  mazy  webs  of  wandering; 
soft  cliff  was  handy,  dark  wood  and  rushing  waters,  tan- 
gled lanes,  furzy  corners,  nooks  of  overhanging,  depths  of 
in-and-out  fantiques  of  Nature  when  she  does  not  wish 
man  to  know  everything  about  her.  The  solid  firm,  di- 
rected by  Timber-legged  Dick,  were  prepared  to  pay  a  fine 
price,  as  for  a  paper-mill,  for  this  last  feudal  tenure  of  the 
Tremlett  race. 

But  the  last  male  member  of  that  much-discounted 
stock  (or,  at  any  rate,  the  last  now  producible  in  court 
without  criminal  procedure)  had  refused  to  consider  the 
most  liberal  offers,  even  of  a  fine  run  of  Free-trade,  all  to 
himself — as  still  it  is — for  the  alienation  in  fee-simple  of 
this  last  sod  of  hereditament.  For  good  consideration  he 
would  grant  a  lease,  which  Blickson  might  prepare  for 
them ;  but  he  would  be — something  the  nadir  of  benedic- 
tion— if  he  didn't  knock  down  any  man  who  would  try  to 
make  him  rob  his  daughter.  The  league  of  Free-traders 
came  into  his  fine  feelings,  and  took  the  mills  and  prem- 
ises on  a  good  elastic  lease.  But  the  landlord  must  put 
them  into  suitable  condition. 

This  he  was  doing  now,  with  technical  experience,  en- 
deavouring at  the  same  time  to  discharge  some  little  of  his 
new  parental  duties.  Jem  Kettel  found  it  very  hard  that 
though  allowed  to  work  he  was  not  encouraged  (as  he 
used  to  be)  to  participate  in  the  higher  moments.  "  You 
clear  out  when  my  darter  cometh.  You  be  no  fit  com- 
pany for  she."  Jem  could  not  see  it,  for  he  knew  how 
good  he  was. 

But  the  big  man  had  taken  a  much  larger  turn.  He 
was  not  going  to  alter  his  own  course  of  life  ;  that  was  quite 
good  enough  for  him.  And  really  in  those  days  people 
heard  so  much  of  "  Reform,  Reform,"  dinged  forever  in 
their  ears,  that  any  one  at  all  inclined  to  think  for  himself 


THE    PRIDE    OF    LIFE  443 

had  a  tendency  towards  backsliding.  None  the  less 
must  he  urge  others  to  reform,  as  the  manner  has  been 
of  all  ages. 

Tremlett's  present  anxiety  was  to  provide  his  daughter 
with  good  advice  and  principles  so  exalted  that  there 
might  be  no  further  peril  of  her  becoming  like  himself. 
From  him  she  was  to  learn  the  value  of  proper  pride  and 
dignity,  of  behaving  in  her  new  position  as  if  she  had 
been  born  in  it,  of  remembering  distant  forefathers,  but 
forgetting  her  present  father — at  any  rate,  as  an  example. 
To  this  end  he  made  her  study  the  great  ancestral  Bible 
— not  the  Canonical  books,  however,  so  much  as  the  covers 
and  fly-leaves  —  the  wholly  uninspired  records  of  the 
Tremlett  family.  These  she  perused  with  eager  eyes, 
thinking  more  highly  of  herself  and  laying  in  large  store 
of  pride,  a  bitter  stock  to  start  with,  even  when  the  course 
of  youth  is  fair. 

But  whether  for  evil  or  for  good,  it  was  pleasant  to  see 
the  rough  man  sitting,  this  first  day  of  the  spring-time, 
teaching  his  little  daughter  how  sadly  he  and  she  had 
come  down  in  the  world.  Zip  had  been  spared  from  her 
regular  lessons,  by  way  of  a  treat,  to  dine  with  her  father, 
before  going — as  was  now  arranged — to  the  care  of  a  lady 
at  Exeter.  Jem  Kettel  had  been  obliged  to  dine  upon  in- 
ferior victuals,  and  at  the  less  fashionable  hour  of  11  A.M.  ; 
for  it  was  not  to  be  known  that  he  was  there,  lest  atten- 
tion should  be  drawn  to  the  job  they  were  about.  Trem- 
lett had  washed  himself  very  finely,  in  honor  of  this  great 
occasion,  and  donned  a  new  red  woollen  jacket,  following 
every  curve  and  chunk  of  his  bulky  chest  and  rugged 
arms.  He  had  finished  his  dinner,  and  was  in  good  spir- 
its, with  money  enough  from  his  wrestling-prize  to  last 
him  until  the  next  good  run,  and  a  pipe  of  choice  tobacco 
(such  as  could  scarcely  be  got  at  Exeter),  issuing  soft 
rings  of  turquoise  tint  to  the  black  oak  beams  above.  The 
mill-wheel  was  gone ;  but  the  murmur  of  the  brook,  and 
the  tinkle  of  the  trickle  from  the  shattered  trough,  and 
the  singing  of  birds  in  their  love-time  came,  like  the  wav- 
ing of  a  branch  that  sends  the  sunshine  in. 

The  dark-haired  child  was  in  the  window-seat,  with  her 
Sunday  frock  on,  and  her  tresses  ribboned  back,  and  her 


444  PEELYCROSS 

knees  wide  apart  to  make  a  lap  for  the  Bible,  upon  which 
her  great  dark  eyes  were  fixed.  Puffs  of  the  March  wind 
now  and  then  came  in,  where  the  lozenges  of  glass  were 
gone,  and  lifted  loose  tussocks  of  her  untrussed  hair,  and 
made  the  sunshine  quiver  on  the  worn  planks  of  the  floor. 
But  the  girl  was  used  to  breezes,  and  her  heart  was  in 
her  lesson. 

"  Hunderds  of  'em,  more  than  all  the  kings  and  queens 
of  England !"  she  said,  with  her  very  clear  voice  trem- 
bling, and  her  pointed  fingers  making  hop-scotch  in  and  out 
the  lines  of  genealogy.  "  What  can  Fay  Penniloe  show 
like  that  ?  But  was  any  of  'em  colonels,  father  ?" 

"  Maight  a'  been,  if  'em  would  a'  corned  down  to  it. 
But  there  wasn't  no  colonels  in  the  old  times,  I've  a' 
heered.  Us  was  afore  that  sort  of  thing  were  found  out." 

"  To  be  sure.  I  might  have  knowed.  But  was  any  of 
'em  sirs,  the  same  as  Sir  Thomas  Waldron  was  ?" 

"  Scores  of  'ein,  when  they  chose  to  come  down  to  it. 
But  they  kept  that,  most  ways,  for  the  younger  boys 
among  'em.  The  father  of  the  family  was  bound  to  be  a 
lord." 

"  Oh,  father !  Real  lords  ?  And  me  to  have  never  seed 
one!  What  hath  become  of  the  laws  of  the  land?  But 
why  bain't  you  a  real  lord,  the  same  as  they  was  ?" 

"  Us  never  cared  to  keep  it  up,"  said  the  last  of  the 
visible  Tremletts,  after  pondering  over  this  difficult  point. 
"  You  see,  Zip,  it's  only  the  women  cares  about  that.  'Tis 
no  more  to  a  man  than  the  puff  of  this  here  pipe." 

"But  right  is  right,  father.  And  it  soundeth  fine. 
Was  any  of  them  earls  and  marquises  and  dukes,  and 
whatever  it  is  that  comes  over  that  ?" 

"  They  was  everything  they  cared  to  be.  Barons  and 
counts  and  dukes,  spelled  the  same  as  duck,  and  holy  em- 
pires and  holy  sepulchres.  But  do  'e,  my  dear,  get  my 
baccy-box." 

What  summit  of  sovereignty  they  would  have  reached 
if  the  lecture  had  proceeded  no  one  knows ;  for  as  Zip, 
like  a  princess,  was  stepping  in  and  out  among  the  holes 
of  the  floor,  with  her  father's  tin  box,  the  old  door  shook 
with  a  sharp  and  heavy  knock ;  and  the  child,  with  her 
face  lit  up  by  the  glory  of  her  birth,  marched  away  to 


THE    PRIDE    OF    LIFE  445 

open  it.  This  she  accomplished  with  some  trouble,  for 
the  timber  was  ponderous  and  rickety. 

A  tall  young  man  strode  in  as  if  the  place  belonged  to 
him,  and  said,  "  I  want  to  see  Harvey  Tremlett." 

"  Here  be  I.     Who  be  you  ?" 

The  wrestler  sat  where  he  was,  and  did  not  even  nod 
his  head ;  for  his  rule  was  always  to  take  people  just  as 
they  chose  to  take  him.  But  the  visitor  cared  little  for 
his  politeness  or  his  rudeness. 

"  I  am  Sir  Thomas  Waldron's  son.  If  I  came  in  upon 
you  rudely,  I  am  sorry  for  it.  It  is  not  what  I  often  do. 
But  just  now  I  am  not  a  bit  like  myself." 

"  Sir,  I  could  take  my  oath  of  that,  for  your  father  was 
a  gen'leman.  Zippy,  dust  a  cheer,  my  dear." 

"  No,  young  lady,  you  shall  not  touch  it,"  said  the 
young  man,  with  a  long  stride,  and  a  real  bow  to  the 
comely  child.  "  I  am  fitter  to  lift  chairs  than  you  are." 

This  pleased  the  father  mightily ;  and  he  became  quite 
gracious  when  the  young  Sir  Thomas  said  to  him,  while 
glancing  with  manifest  surprise  at  his  quick  and  intelli- 
gent daughter : 

"  Mr.  Tremlett,  I  wish  to  speak  to  you  of  a  matter  too 
sad  to  be  talked  about  in  the  presence  of  young  ladies." 

This  was  not  said  by  way  of  flattery  or  conciliation; 
for  Zip,  with  her  proud  step  and  steadfast  gaze,  was  of  a 
very  different  type  from  that  of  the  common  cottage-lass. 
She  was  already  at  the  door  when  her  father  said : 

"Go  you  down  to  the  brook,  my  dear,  and  see  how 
many  nestesses  you  can  find.  Then  come  back  and  say 
good-bye  to  daddy  afore  go  home  to  passonage.  Must  be 
back  afore  dark,  you  know." 

"  What  a  beautiful  child !"  Young  Waldron  had  been 
looking  with  amazement  at  her.  "  I  know  what  the  Trem- 
letts  used  to  be ;  but  I  had  no  idea  they  could  be  like 
that.  I  never  saw  such  eyes  in  all  my  life." 

"  Her  be  well  enough,"  replied  Tremlett,  shortly.  "  And 
now,  sir,  what  is  it  as  I  can  do  for  you  ?  I  knows  zum- 
mat  of  the  troubles  on  your  mind ;  and  if  I  can  do  'e  any 
good,  I  wull." 

"  Two  things  I  want  of  you.  First,  your  word  of  hon- 
or— and  I  know  what  you  Tremletts  have  been  in  better 


446  PEELYCROSS 

days — that  you  had  nothing  to  do  with  that  cursed  and 
devilish  crime  in  our  church-yard." 

"  Sir,"  answered  Tremlett,  standing  up  for  the  first  time 
in  this  interview,  "  I  give  you  my  oath  by  that  book  yon'- 
ner  that  I  knows  nort  about  it.  We  be  coom  low ;  but 
us  bain't  zunk  to  that  yet." 

He  met  Sir  Thomas  Waldron,  eye  to  eye,  and  the  young 
man  took  his  plastered  hand,  and  knew  that  it  was  not  a 
liar's. 

"  Next,  I  want  your  good  advice,"  said  the  visitor,  sit- 
ting down  by  him,  "  and  your  help,  if  you  will  give  it. 
I  will  not  speak  of  money  first,  because  I  can  see  what 
you  are.  But  to  follow  it  up  there  must  be  money.  Shall 
I  tell  you  what  I  shall  be  glad  to  do  without  risk  of  of- 
fending you?  Very  well;  I  don't  care  a  fig  for  money 
in  a  matter  such  as  this.  Money  won't  give  you  back 
your  father,  or  your  mother,  or  anybody,  when  they  are 
gone  away  from  you.  But  it  it  may  help  you  to  do  your 
duty  to  them.  At  present  I  have  no  money  to  speak  of, 
because  I  have  been  with  my  regiment,  and  there  it  goes 
away  like  smoke.  But  I  can  get  any  quantity  almost  by 
going  to  our  lawyers.  If  you  like,  and  will  see  to  it,  I 
will  put  a  thousand  pounds  in  your  hands  for  you  to  be 
able  to  work  things  up ;  and  another  thousand  if  you 
make  anything  of  it.  Don't  be  angry  with  me.  I  don't 
want  to  bribe  you.  It  is  only  for  the  sake  of  doing  right. 
I  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  the  world.  Can  you  ever  get 
what  is  right  without  paying  for  it  ?" 

"  No,  sir,  you  can't.  And  not  always  if  you  do.  But 
you  be  the  right  sort,  and  no  mistake.  Tell  you  what, 
Sir  Thomas,  I  won't  take  a  farden  of  your  money,  'cos  it 
would  be  a'  robbin'  of  you.  I  han't  got  the  brains  for 
gooin'  under  other  folk,  like.  Generally  they  does  that  to 
me.  But  I  know  an  oncommon  sharp  young  fellow, 
Jemmy  Kettel  is  his  name.  A  chap  as  "can  goo  and  come 
fifty  taimes,  a'most,  while  I  be  a  toornin'  round  wance  ;  a' 
knoweth  a'most  every  rogue  for  fifty  maile  around.  And 
if  you  like  to  goo  so  far  as  a  ten-pun'  note  upon  him,  I'll 
zee  that  a'  doth  his  best  wi'  un.  But  never  a  farden  over 
what  I  said." 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you.     Here  it  is ;  and 


THE    PKIDE    OF    LIFE  447 

another  next  week,  if  he  requires  it.  I  hate  the  sight  of 
money  while  this  thing  lasts,  because  I  know  that  money 
is  at  the  bottom  of  it.  Tremlett,  you  are  a  noble  fellow ; 
your  opinion  is  worth  something.  Now  don't  you  agree 
with  me  in  thinking  that,  after  all,  it  comes  to  this  (every- 
thing else  has  been  proved  rubbish) :  the  doctors  are  at 
the  bottom  of  it  ?" 

"  Well,  sir,  I  am  afeared  they  be.  I  never  knowed  nort 
of  'em,  thank  the  Lord.  But  I  did  hear  they  was  oncom- 
mon  greedy  to  cut  up  a  poor  brother  of  mine  as  coom  to 
trouble.  I  was  out  o'  country  then  ;  or,  by  gosh,  I  wud 
a'  found  them  a  job  or  two  to  do  at  home." 

The  young  man  closed  his  lips  and  thought.  Tremlett's 
opinion,  although  of  little  value,  was  all  that  was  needed 
to  clinch  his  own.  "  I'll  go  and  put  a  stop  to  it  at  once," 
he  muttered ;  and  after  a  few  more  words  with  the  wrest- 
ler, he  set  his  long  legs  going  rapidly,  and  his  forehead 
frowning,  in  the  direction  of  that  JEsculapian  fortress 
known  as  the  Old  Barn. 

By  this  time  Dr.  Fox  was  in  good  health  again,  recover- 
ing his  sprightly  tone  of  mind  and  magnanimous  self-con- 
fidence. His  gratitude  to  Frank  Gilham  now  was  as  keen 
and  strong  as  could  be  wished ;  for  the  patient's  calmness 
and  fortitude  and  very  fine  constitution  had  secured  his 
warm  affection  by  affording  him  such  a  field  for  skill  and 
such  a  signal  triumph  as  seldom  yet  have  blessed  a  heart 
at  once  medical  and  surgical.  Whenever  Dr.  Gronow 
came,  and  dwelling  on  the  ingenious  structure  designed 
and  wrought  by  Jemmy's  skill,  poured  forth  kind  ap- 
proval and  the  precious  applause  of  an  expert,  the  youth- 
ful doctor's  delight  was  like  a  young  mother's  pride  in  her 
baby.  And  it  surged  within  him  all  the  more  because  he 
could  not — as  the  mother  does  —  inundate  all  the  world 
with  it.  Wiser,  too,  than  that  sweet  parent,  he  had  re- 
fused most  stubbornly  to  risk  the  duration  of  his  joy  or 
imperil  the  precious  subject  by  any  ardour  of  excitement 
or  flutter  of  the  system. 

The  patient  lay  like  a  well-set  specimen  in  the  box  of  a 
naturalist,  carded  and  trussed  and  pinned  and  fibred, 
bound  to  maintain  one  immutable  plane.  His  mother 
hovered  round  him  with  perpetual  presence,  as  a  house- 


448  PEKLYCROSS 

martin  flits  round  her  fallen  nestling,  circling  about  that 
one  pivot  of  the  world,  back  for  a  twittering  moment, 
again  sweeping  the  air  for  a  sip  of  him. 

But  the  one  he  would  have  given  all  the  world  to  have 
a  sip  of,  even  in  a  dream  he  must  not  see.  Such  was  the 
stern  decree  of  the  power,  even  more  ruthless  than  that  to 
which  it  punctually  despatches  us — ^Esculapius,  less  man- 
suete  to  human  tears  than  vEacus.  To  put  it  more  plainly, 
and  therefore  better,  Master  Frank  did  not  even  know  that 
Miss  Christie  was  on  the  premises. 

Christie  was  sitting  by  the  window,  thrown  out  where 
the  barn  door  used  to  be — where  the  cart  was  backed  up 
with  the  tithe-sheaves  golden,  but  now  the  gilded  pills 
were  rolled,  and  the  only  wholesome  bit  of  metal  was  the 
sunshine  on  her  hair — when  she  saw  a  large  figure  come 
in  at  the  gate  (which  was  still  of  the  fine  agricultural  sort), 
and  a  shudder  ran  down  her  shapely  back.  With  femi- 
nine speed  of  apprehension  she  felt  that  it  could  be  one 
man  only :  the  man  she  had  heard  so  much  of,  a  monster 
of  size  and  ferocity,  the  man  who  had  "  concussed  "  her 
brother's  head,  and  shattered  an  arm  of  great  interest  to 
her.  That  she  ran  to  the  door,  which  was  wide  to  let  the 
spring  in,  and  clapped  it  to  the  post  speaks  volumes  for 
her  courage. 

"You  can't  come  in  here,  Harvey  Tremlett !"  she  cried, 
with  a  little  foot  set,  as  a  forlorn  hope,  against  the  bottom 
of  the  door,  which  (after  the  manner  of  its  kind)  refused 
to  go  home  when  called  upon  ;  "  you  have  done  harm 
enough,  and  I  am  astonished  that  you  should  dare  to  im- 
agine we  would  let  you  in." 

"  But  I  am  not  Harvey  Tremlett  at  all.  I  am  only  Tom 
Waldron.  And  I  don't  see  why  I  should  be  shut  out 
when  I  have  done  no  harm." 

The  young  lady  was  not  to  be  caught  with  chaff.  She 
took  a  little  peep  through  the  chink,  having  learned  that 
art  in  a  very  sweet  manner  of  late ;  and  then  she  threw 
open  the  door  and  showed  herself,  a  fine  figure  of  blushes. 

"  Miss  Fox,  I  am  sure,"  said  the  visitor,  smiling,  and 
lifting  his  hat  as  he  had  learned  to  do  abroad.  "  But  I 
won't  come  in,  against  orders,  whatever  the  temptation 
may  be." 


THE    PRIDE    OF    LIFE  449 

"We  don't  know  any  harm  of  you,  and  you  may  come 
in,"  answered  Chris,  who  was  never  long  taken  aback. 
"  Your  sister  is  a  dear  friend  of  mine.  I  am  sorry  for  be- 
ing so  rude  to  you." 

Waldron  sat  down,  and  was  cheerful  for  a  while,  greatly 
pleased  with  his  young  entertainer  and  her  simple  account 
of  the  state  of  things  there.  But  when  she  inquired  for 
his  mother  and  sister,  the  cloud  returned,  and  he  meant 
business. 

"  You  are  likely  to  know  more  than  I  do,"  he  said,  "  for 
I  have  not  been  home,  and  cannot  go  there  yet.  I  will 
not  trouble  you  with  dark  things — but  may  I  have  a  little 
talk  with  your  brother  ?" 

Miss  Fox  left  the  room  at  once  and  sent  her  brother 
down ;  and  now  a  very  strange  surprise  befell  the  sprightly 
doctor.  Sir  Thomas  Waldron  met  him  with  much  cordi- 
ality and  warmth,  for  they  had  always  been  good  friends, 
though  their  natures  were  so  different ;  and  then  he  de- 
livered this  fatal  shot. 

"  I  am  very  sorry,  my  dear  Jemmy,  but  I  have  had  to 
make  up  my  mind  to  do  a  thing  you  won't  much  like.  I 
know  you  have  always  thought  a  great  deal  of  my  sister 
Inez,  and  now  I  am  told,  though  I  have  not  seen  her,  that 
you  are  as  good  as  engaged  to  her.  But  you  must  per- 
ceive that  it  would  never  do.  I  could  not  wish  for  a  better 
sort  of  fellow,  and  I  have  the  highest  opinion  of  you. 
Really  I  think  that  you  would  have  made  her  as  happy  as 
the  day  is  long,  because  you  are  so  clever  and  cheerful 
and  good-tempered,  and — and  in  fact  I  may  say,  good  all 
round.  But  you  must  both  of  you  get  over  it.  I  am  now 
the  head  of  the  family,  and  I  don't  like  saying  it,  but  I 
must.  I  cannot  allow  you  to  have  Nicie  ;  and  I  shall  for- 
bid Nicie  to  think  any  more  of  you." 

"  What  the  deuce  do  you  mean,  Tom  ?"  asked  Jemmy, 
scarcely  believing  his  ears.  "  What's  up  now,  in  the  name 
of  goodness  ?  What  on  earth  have  you  got  into  your  pre- 
cious noddle  ?" 

"  Jemmy,  my  noddle — as  you  call  it — may  not  be  a  quar- 
ter so  clever  as  yours ;  and  in  fact  I  know  it  is  not  over- 
bright  without  having  the  benefit  of  your  opinion.  But 
for  all  that,  it  has  some  common-sense  ;  and  it  knows  its 


450  PEELYCROSS 

own  mind  pretty  well ;  and  what  it  says,  it  sticks  to.  You 
are-  bound  to  take  it  in  a  friendly  manner,  because  that  is 
how  I  intend  it ;  and  you  must  see  the  good  sense  of  it.  I 
shall  be  happy  and  proud  myself  to  continue  our  friend- 
ship. Only  you  must  pledge  your  word  that  you  will  have 
nothing  more  to  say  to  my  sister  Inez." 

"  But  why,  Tom,  why  ?"  Fox  asked  again,  with  increas- 
ing wonder.  He  was  half-inclined  to  laugh  at  the  other's 
solemn  and  official  style,  for  he  saw  that  it  would  be  a  dan- 
gerous thing,  for  Waldron's  colour  was  rising.  "  What  ob- 
jection have  you  discovered,  or  somebody  else  found  out 
for  you  ?  Surely  you  are  dreaming,  Tom  !" 

"  No,  I  am  not.  And  I  shall  not  let  you.  I  should  al- 
most have  thought  that  you  might  have  known  without 
my  having  to  tell  you.  If  you  think  twice  you  will  see 
at  once  that  reason  and  common -sense  and  justice  and 
knowledge  of  the  world  and  the  feeling  of  a  gentleman 
all  compel  you  to — to  knock  off,  if  I  may  so  express  it.  I 
can  only  say  that  if  you  can't  see  it,  everybody  else  can  at 
a  glance." 

"  No  doubt  I  am  the  thickest  of  the  thick — though  it 
may  not  be  the  general  opinion.  But  do  give  me  ever 
such  a  little  hint,  Tom — something  of  a  twinkle  in  this 
frightful  fog." 

"  Well,  you  are  a  doctor,  aren't  you  now  ?" 

"  Certainly  I  am,  and  proud  of  it.  Only  wish  I  was  a 
better  one." 

"  Very  well.  The  doctors  have  dug  up  my  father.  And 
no  doctor  ever  shall  marry  his  daughter." 

The  absurdity  of  this  was  of  a  very  common  kind  as 
the  fallacy  is  of  the  commonest ;  and  there  was  nothing 
very  rare  to  laugh  at.  But  Fox  did  the  worst  thing  he 
could  have  done — he  laughed  till  his  sides  were  aching. 
Too  late  he  perceived  that  he  had  been  as  scant  of  discre- 
tion as  the  other  was  of  logic. 

"  That's  how  you  take  it,  is  it,  sir  ?"  young  Waldron 
cried,  read^i  to  knock  him  down  if  he  could  have  done 
so  without  cowardice.  "  A  lucky  thing  for  you  that  you 
are  on  the  sick  -  list,  or  I'd  soon  make  you  laugh  the 
other  side  of  your  mouth,  you  guffawing  jackanapes.  If 
you  can  laugh  at  what  was  done  to  my  father,  it  proves 


THE    PRIDE    OF    LIFE  451 

that  you  are  capable  of  doing  it.  When  you  have  done 
with  your  idiot  grin  I'll  just  ask  you  one  thing :  never 
let  me  set  eyes  on  your  sniggering,  grinning,  pill-box  of  a 
face  again." 

"  That  you  may  be  quite  sure  you  never  shall  do,"  an- 
swered Fox,  who  was  ashy  pale  with  anger,  "  until  you 
have  begged  my  pardon  humbly,  and  owned  yourself  a 
thick-headed,  hot-headed  fool.  I  am  sorry  that  your  fa- 
ther should  have  such  a  ninny  of  a  cad  to  come  after 
him.  Everybody  acknowledges  that  the  late  Sir  Thomas 
was  a  gentleman." 

The  present  Sir  Thomas  would  not  trust  himself  near 
such  a  fellow  for  another  moment,  but  flung  out  of  the 
house  without  his  hat,  while  Fox  proved  that  he  was  no 
coward  by  following  and  throwing  it  after  him.  And  the 
other  young  man  proved  the  like  of  himself  by  not  turn- 
ing round  and  smashing  him. 


CHAPTER    XLII 
HIS     LAST    BIVOUAC 

"  HAVE  I  done  wrong  ?"  young  Waldron  asked  himself, 
as  he  strode  down  the  hill  with  his  face  still  burning,  and 
that  muddy  hat  on.  u  Most  fellows  would  have  knocked 
him  down.  I  hope  that  nice  girl  heard  nothing  of  the 
row.  The  walls  are  jolly  thick,  that's  one  good  thing — as 
thick  as  my  poor  head,  I  dare  say.  But  when  the  fellow 
dared  to  laugh  !  Good  heavens,  what  are  people  coming 
to  ?  I  dare  say  I  am  a  hot-headed  fool,  though  I  kept  my 
temper  wonderfully  ;  and  to  tell  me  I  am  not  a  gentleman ! 
Well,  I  don't  care  a  rap  who  sees  me  now,  for  they  must 
hear  of  this  affair  at  Walderscourt.  I  think  the  best  thing 
that  I  can  do  is  to  go  and  see  old  Penniloe.  He  is  as 
honest  as  he  is  clear-headed.  If  he  says  I'm  wrong  I'll 
believe  it.  And  I'll  take  his  advice  about  other  things." 

This  was  the  wisest  resolution  of  his  life,  inasmuch  as 
it  proved  to  be  the  happiest.  Mr.  Penniloe  had  just  fin- 
ished afternoon  work  with  his  pupils,  and  they  were  set- 
ting off — Pike  with  his  rod  to  the  long  pool  up  the  mead- 
ows, which  always  fished  best  with  a  cockle  up  it ;  Peck- 
over  for  a  long  steeple  -  chase,  and  Mopuss  to  look  for 
chalcedonies  and  mosses  among  the  cleves  of  Hagdon 
Hill,  for  nature  had  nudged  him  into  that  high  bliss 
which  a  child  has  in  routing  out  his  father's  pockets.  The 
parson,  who  felt  a  warm  regard  for  a  very  fine  specimen 
of  hot  youth,  who  was  at  once  the  son  of  his  oldest  friend 
and  his  own  son  in  literature — though  Minerva  sat  cross- 
legged  at  that  travail  —  he,  Mr.  Penniloe,  was  in  a  gentle 
mood,  as  he  seldom  failed  to  be  ;  moreover,  in  a  fine  mood, 
as  behooves  a  man  who  has  been  dealing  with  great  authors 
and  walking  as  in  a  crystal  world,  so  different  from  our 
turbid  fog. 


HIS    LAST    BIVOUAC  453 

To  him  the  young  man  poured  forth  his  troubles,  deeper 
than  some  classic  woes,  too  substantial  to  be  laid  by  any 
triple  cast  of  dust.  And  then  he  confessed  his  flagrant 
insult  to  a  rising  member  of  the  great  profession. 

"  You  have  behaved  very  badly  according  to  your  own 
account,"  Mr.  Penniloe  said  with  much  decision,  knowing 
that  his  own  weakness  was  to  let  people  off  too  easily, 
and  feeling  that  duty  to  his  ancient  friend  compelled  him 
to  chastise  his  son ;  "  but  your  bad  behaviour  to  Jemmy 
Fox  has  some  excuse  in  quick  temper  provoked.  Your 
conduct  towards  your  mother  and  sister  is  ten  times  worse, 
because  it  is  mean." 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  can  make  that  out."  Young 
Waldron  would  have  flown  into  a  fury  with  any  other  man 
who  had  said  this.  Even  as  it  was  he  stood  up  with  a 
sullen  countenance,  glancing  at  the  door. 

"  It  is  mean  in  this  way,"  continued  the  parson,  leaving 
him  to  go  if  he  thought  fit,  "  that  you  have  thought  more  of 
yourself  than  them.  Because  it  would  have  hurt  your  pride 
to  go  to  them,  with  this  wrong  still  unredressed,  you  have 
chosen  to  forget  the  comfort  your  presence  must  have  af- 
forded them,  and  the  bitter  pain  they  must  feel  at  hearing 
that  you  have  returned  and  avoided  them.  In  a  like  case 
your  father  would  not  have  acted  so." 

Waldron  sat  down  again,  and  his  great  frame  trembled. 
He  covered  his  face  with  his  hands,  and  tears  shone  upon 
his  warted  knuckles,  for  he  had  not  yet  lost  all  those  ex- 
uberances of  youth. 

"  I  never  thought  of  that,"  he  muttered ;  "  it  never  oc- 
curred to  me  in  that  way.  Though  Jakes  said  something 
like  it.  But  he  could  not  put  it  as  you  do.  I  see  that  I 
have  been  a  cad,  as  Jemmy  Fox  declared  I  was." 

"Jemmy  is  older,  and  he  should  have  known  better  than 
to  say  anything  of  the  sort.  He  must  have  lost  his  tem- 
per sadly,  because  he  could  never  have  thought  it.  You 
have  not  been  what  he  calls  a  cad ;  but  in  your  haste  and 
misery  you  came  to  the  wrong  decision.  I  have  spoken 
strongly,  Tom,  my  boy — more  strongly,  perhaps,  than  I 
should  have  done.  But  your  mother  is  in  weak  health 
now,  and  you  are  all  in  all  to  her." 

"  The  best  you  can  show  me  to  be  is  a  brute,  and  I  am 


454  PERLYCROSS 

not  sure  that  that  is  not  worse  than  a  cad.  I  ought  to  be 
kicked  every  inch  of  the  way  home,  and  I'll  go  there  as 
fast  as  if  I  was." 

"That  won't  do  at  all,"  replied  the  curate,  smiling. 
"  To  go  is  your  duty,  but  not  to  rush  in  like  a  thunder- 
bolt and  amaze  them.  They  have  been  so  anxious  about 
your  return  that  it  must  be  broken  very  gently  to  them. 
If  you  wish  it,  and  can  wait  a  little  while,  I  will  go  with 
you,  and  prepare  them  for  it." 

"  Sir,  if  you  only  would — but  no,  I  don't  deserve  it.  It 
is  a  great  deal  too  much  to  expect  of  you." 

"  What  is  the  time  ?  Oh,  a  quarter-past  four.  At  half- 
past  I  have  to  baptize  a  child  well  advanced  in  his  seventh 
year,  whose  parents  have  made  it  the  very  greatest  per- 
sonal favour  to  me  to  allow  him  to  be  *  crassed,'  as  they 
express  it.  And  I  only  discovered  their  neglect  last  week! 
Who  am  I  to  find  fault  with  any  one  ?  If  you  don't  mind 
waiting  for  about  half  an  hour  I  will  come  back  for  you, 
and  meanwhile  Mrs.  Muggridge  will  make  your  hat  look 
better;  Master  Jemmy  must  have  lost  his  temper  too,  I 
am  afraid.  Good-bye  for  the  moment ;  unless  I  am  punct- 
ual to  the  minute,  I  know  too  well  what  will  happen — 
they  will  all  be  off.  For  they  *  can't  zee  no  vally  in  it,' 
as  they  say.  Alas,  alas,  and  we  are  wild  about  missions 
to  Hindoos  and  Hottentots !" 

As  soon 'as  Mr.  Penniloe  had  left  the  house,  the  youth, 
who  had  been  lowered  in  his  own  esteem,  felt  a  very 
strong  desire  to  go  after  him.  Possibly  this  was  in- 
creased by  the  sad,  reproachful  gaze  of  Thyatira,  who,  as 
an  old  friend,  longed  to  hear  all  about  him,  but  was  too 
well-mannered  to  ask  questions.  Cutting  all  consideration 
short — which  is  often  the  best  thing  to  do  with  it — he  put 
on  his  fairly  re-established  hat,  and  cared  not  a  penny 
whether  Mrs.  Channing,  the  baker's  wife,  was  taking  a 
look  into  the  street  or  not ;  or  even  Mrs.  Tapscott,  with 
the  rosemary  over  her  window. 

Then  he  turned  in  at  the  lych-gate,  thinking  of  the  day 
when  his  father's  body  had  lain  there  (as  the  proper  thing 
was  for  a  body  to  do),  and  then  he  stood  in  the  church- 
yard, where  the  many  ways  of  death  divided.  Three  main 
paths,  all  well  gravelled,  ran  among  those  who  had  toddled 


HIS   LAST   BIVOUAC  455 

in  the  time  of  childhood  down  them  with  wormwood 
and  stock-gilly  flowers  in  their  hands  ;  and  then  sauntered 
along  them  with  hands  in  pockets,  and  eyes  for  the  maidens 
over  tombstone-heads  ;  and  then  had  come  limping  along 
on  their  staffs ;  and  now  were  having  all  this  done  for 
them  without  knowing  anything  about  it. 

None  of  these  ways  was  at  all  to  his  liking.  Peace — 
at  least  in  death — was  there,  green  turf  and  the  rounded 
bank,  gray  stone,  and  the  unhousehold  name,  to  be  made 
out  by  a  grandchild  perhaps,  proud  of  skill  in  ancient 
letters,  prouder  still  of  a  pocket-knife.  What  a  faint 
scratch  on  soft  stone!  And  yet  the  character  far  and 
away  stronger  than  that  of  the  lettered  times  that  follow  it. 

Young  Waldron  was  not  of  a  morbid  cast,  neither  was 
his  retrospective,  as  (for  the  good  of  mankind)  is  or- 
dained to  those  who  have  the  world  before  them.  He 
turned  to  the  right  by  a  track  across  the  grass,  followed 
the  bend  of  the  church-yard  wall,  and  fearing  to  go  any 
farther,  lest  he  should  stumble  on  his  father's  outraged 
grave,  sat  down  upon  a  gap  of  the  gray  enclosure.  This 
gap  had  been  caused  by  the  sweep  of  tempest  that  went 
up  the  valley  at  the  climax  of  the  storm.  The  wall  being 
low,  had  taken  little  harm  ;  but  the  great  west  gable  of 
the  Abbey  had  been  smitten,  and  swung  on  its  back  as  a 
trap-do.or  swings  upon  its  hinges.  Thick  flint  structure  and 
time-worn  mullion,  massive  buttress  and  deep  foundation, 
all  had  gone  flat  and  turned  their  fangs  up,  rending  a 
chasm  in  the  tattered  earth.  But  this  dark  chasm  was 
hidden  from  view  by  a  pile  of  loose  rubble  and  chunks  of 
flint  that  had  rattled  down  when  the  gable  fell,  and  strik- 
ing the  cross-wall  had  lodged  thereon,  breaking  the  cope 
in  places,  and  hanging  (with  tangles  of  ivy  and  tufts  of 
toad-flax)  over  the  interval  of  wall  and  ruin  as  a  snow-drift 
overhangs  a  ditch. 

Here  the  young  man  sat  down,  as  if  any  sort  of  place 
would  do  for  him.  The  gap  in  the  wall  was  no  matter  to 
him,  but  happened  to  suit  his  downcast  mood  and  the 
misery  of  the  moment.  Here  he  might  sit  and  wait  until 
Mr.  Penniloe  had  got  through  a  job  superior  to  the  burial- 
service,  because  no  one  could  cut  you  in  pieces  directly 
afterwards  without  being  hanged  for  it.  He  could  see 


456  PEKLYCKOSS 

Mr.  Penniloe's  black  stick,  standing  like  a  little  parson — 
for  some  of  them  are  proud  of  such  resemblance  —  in  the 
great  south  porch  of  the  church,  and  thereby  he  knew 
that  he  could  not  miss  his  friend.  As  he  lifted  his  eyes 
to  the  ancient  tower,  and  the  black  yew-tree  still  stead- 
fast, and  the  four  vanes  (never  of  one  opinion  as  to  the 
direction  of  the  wind  in  anything  less  than  half  a  gale), 
and  the  jackdaws  come  home  prematurely,  after  digging 
up  broad-beans,  to  settle  their  squabble  about  their  nests ; 
and  then  as  he  lowered  his  gaze  to  the  tombstones,  and 
the  new  foundation- arches,  and  other  labours  of  a  parish 
now  so  hateful  to  him,  heavy  depression  and  crushing 
sense  of  the  wrath  of  God  against  his  race  fell  upon  his 
head,  as  the  ruin  behind  him  had  fallen  on  its  own 
foundations. 

He  felt  like  an  old  man  fain  to  die,  when  time  is  gone 
weary  and  empty.  What  was  the  use  of  wealth  to  him, 
of  bodily  strength,  of  bright  ambition  to  make  his  country 
proud  of  him,  even  of  love  of  dearest  friends  and  wedded 
bliss  —  if  such  there  were  —  and  children  who  would 
honour  him?  All  must  be  under  one  black  ban  of  mystery 
insoluble ;  never  could  there  be  one  hearty  smile,  one  gay 
thought,  one  soft  delight;  but  ever  the  view  of  his 
father's  dear  old  figure,  desecrated,  mangled,  perhaps  lect- 
ured on.  He  could  not  think  twice  of  that,  but  groaned: 
"  The  Lord  in  heaven  be  my  help  !  The  Lord  deliver  me 
from  this  life !" 

He  was  all  but  delivered  from  this  life  —  happy  or 
wretched,  it  was  all  but  gone.  For  as  he  flung  his  body 
back,  suiting  the  action  to  his  agony  of  mind  —  crash ! 
went  the  pile  of  jagged  flint,  the  hummocks  of  dead  mor- 
tar, and  the  wattle  of  shattered  ivy.  He  cast  himself  for- 
ward just  in  time,  as  all  that  had  carried  him  broke  and 
fell,  churning  and  grinding  and  clashing  together,  send- 
ing up  a  cloud  of  powdered  lime. 

So  sudden  was  the  rush  that  his  hat  went  with  it,  leav- 
ing his  brown  curls  grimed  with  dust,  and  his  head  for  a 
moment  in  a  dazed  condition,  as  of  one  who  has  leaped 
from  an  earthquake.  He  stood  with  his  back  to  the  wall, 
and  the  muscles  of  his  great  legs  quivering,  after  the 
strain  of  their  spring  for  dear  life.  Then  scarcely  yet 


HIS    LAST    BIVOUAC  457 

conscious  of  his  hair-breadth  escape,  he  descried  Mr. 
Penniloe  coming  from  the  porch,  and  hastened  without 
thought  to  meet  him. 

"  Billy-jack !"  said  the  clergyman,  smiling,  yet  doubtful 
whether  he  ought  to  smile.  "  They  insisted  on  calling 
that  child  '  Billy-jack.'  *  William-John '  they  would  not 
hear  of.  I  could  not  object,  for  it  was  too  late  ;  and  there 
is  nothing  in  it  uncanonical  But  I  scarcely  felt  as  I 
should  have  done  when  I  had  to  say :  '  Billy-jack,  I 
baptize  thee,'  etc.  I  hope  they  did  not  do  it  to  try  me. 
Now  the  Devonshire  mind  is  very  deep  and  subtle, 
though  generally  supposed  to  be  the  simplest  of  the  sim- 
ple. But  what  has  become  of  your  hat,  my  dear  boy? 
Surely  Thyatira  has  had  time  enough  to  clean  it." 

"  She  cleaned  it  beautifully.  But  it  was  waste  of  time. 
It  has  gone  down  a  hole.  Come,  and  I  will  show  you.  I 
wonder  my  head  did  not  go  with  it.  What  a  queer  place 
this  has  become !" 

"  A  hole  !  What  hole  can  there  be  about  here  ?"  Mr. 
Penniloe  asked,  as  he  followed  the  young  man.  "  The 
downfall  of  the  Abbey  has  made  a  heap  rather  than  what 
can  be  called  a  hole.  But  I  declare  you  are  right !  Why, 
I  never  saw  this  before ;  and  I  looked  along  here  with 
Haddon  not  more  than  a  week  ago.  Don't  come  too 
near ;  it  is  safe  enough  for  me,  but  you  are  like  Neptune, 
a  shaker  of  the  earth.  Alas  for  our  poor  ivy  !" 

He  put  on  his  glasses,  and  peered  through  the  wall- 
gap  into  the  flint -strewn  depth  outside.  Part  of  the 
ruins,  just  dislodged,  had  rolled  into  a  pit,  or  some  deep 
excavation,  the  crown  of  which  had  broken  in,  probably 
when  the  gable  fell.  The  remnant  of  the  church-yard  wall 
was  still  quite  sound,  and  evidently  stood  away  from  all 
that  had  gone  on  outside. 

"  Be  thankful  to  God  for  your  escape,"  Mr.  Penniloe  said, 
looking  back  at  the  youth.  "  It  has  indeed  been  a  narrow 
one.  If  you  had  been  carried  down  there  head-foremost, 
even  your  strong  frame  would  have  been  crushed  like  an 
egg-shell." 

"  I  am  not  sure  about  that ;  but  I  don't  want  to  try  it. 
I  think  I  can  see  a  good  piece  of  my  hat,  and  I  am  not 
going  to  be  done  out  of  it.  Will  you  be  kind  enough,  sir, 
20 


458  PEELYCROSS 

to  wait  while  I  go  round  by  the  stile  and  get  in  at  that 
end?  You  see  that  it  is  easy  to  get  down  there,  but  a 
frightful  job  from  this  side.  You  won't  mind  waiting, 
will  you,  sir  ?" 

"  If  you  will  take  my  advice,"  said  the  curate,  "  you 
will  be  content  to  let  well  alone.  It  is  the  great  lesson  of 
the  age.  But  nobody  attends  to  it." 

The  young  man  did  not  attend  to  it ;  and  for  once  Mr. 
Penniloe  had  given  bad  advice,  though  most  correct  in 
principle,  and  in  practice,  too,  nine  times  and  a  half  out  of 
every  ten. 

"  Here  I  am,  sir.  Can  you  see  me  ?"  Sir  Thomas  Wal- 
dron  shouted  up  the  hole.  "  It  is  a  queer  place,  and  no 
mistake.  Please  to  stop  just  where  you  are.  Then  you 
can  give  me  notice  if  you  see  the  ground  likely  to  cave 
in.  Hollo!  Why,  I  never  saw  anything  like  it!  Here's 
a  stone  arch  and  a  tunnel  beyond  it,  just  like  what  you've 
got  at  the  rectory,  only  ever  so  much  bigger.  Looks  as 
if  the  old  Abbey  had  butted  up  against  it  until  it  all  got 
blown  away.  If  I  had  got  a  fellow  down  here  to  help  me 
I  believe  I  could  get  into  it.  But  all  these  chunks  are  in 
the  way." 

"  My  dear  young  friend,  it  will  soon  be  dark,  and  we 
have  more  important  things  to  see  to.  You  are  not  at  all 
safe  down  there ;  if  the  sides  fell  in  you  would  never 
come  out  alive." 

"  It  has  cost  me  a  hat,  and  I  won't  be  done.  I  can't 
go  home  without  a  hat  till  dark.  I  am  not  coming  up 
till  I  know  all  about  it.  Do  oblige  me,  sir,  by  having  the 
least  little  bit  of  patience." 

Mr.  Penniloe  smiled.  The  request,  as  coming  from  such 
a  quarter,  pleased  him.  And  presently  the  young  man  be- 
gan to  fling  up  great  lumps  of  clotted  flint,  as  if  they  were 
marbles,  right  and  left. 

"  What  a  volcano  you  are !"  cried  the  parson  as  the 
youth  in  the  crater  stopped  to  breathe.  "It  is  nothing 
but  a  waste  of  energy.  The  hole  won't  run  away,  my 
dear  Tom.  You  had  much  better  leave  it  for  the  proper 
man  to-morrow." 

"  Don't  say  that.  I  am  the  proper  man."  How  true 
his  words  were  he  had  no  idea.  "  But  I  hear  somebody 


HIS    LAST   BIVOUAC  459 

whistling.  If  I  had  only  got  a  fellow  to  keep  this  stuff 
back  I  could  get  on  like  a  house  on  fire." 

It  was  Pike  coming  back  from  the  long  pool  in  the 
meadow  with  a  pretty  little  dish  of  trout  for  supper. 
His  whistling  was  fine,  as  a  fisherman's  should  be,  for 
want  of  something  better  in  his  mouth ;  and  he  never  got 
over  the  church-yard  stile  without  this  little  air  of  consola- 
tion for  the  ghosts. 

As  he  topped  the  ridge  of  meadow  that  looks  down  on 
the  river,  Mr.  Penniloe  waved  his  hat  to  him  over  the 
breach  of  tke  church-yard  wall ;  and  he,  nothing  loath,  stuck 
his  rod  into  the  ground,  pulled  off  his  jacket,  and  went 
down  to  help. 

"  All  clear  now.  We  can  slip  in  like  a  rabbit.  But  it 
looks  uncommonly  black  inside,  and  it  seems  to  go  a  long 
way  underground  !"  Waldron  shouted  up  to  the  clergyman. 
"  We  cannot  do  anything  without  a  light." 

"  I'll  tell  you  what,  sir,"  Pike  chimed  in  ;  "  this  passage 
runs  right  into  the  church,  I  do  believe." 

"That  is  the  very  thing  I  have  been  thinking,"  an- 
swered Mr.  Penniloe.  "  I  have  heard  of  a  tradition  to  that 
effect.  I  should  like  to  come  down  and  examine  it." 

"  Not  yet,  sir,  if  you  please.  There  is  scarcely  room 
for  three.  And  it  would  be  a  dangerous  place  for  you. 
But  if  you  could  only  give  us  something  like  a  candle — " 

"  Oh,  I  know !"  the  sage  Pike  suggested,  with  an  an- 
gler's quickness.  "  Ask  him  to  throw  us  down  one  of  the 
four  torches  stuck  up  at  the  lych-gate.  They  burn  like  fury; 
and  I  dare  say  you  have  got  a  lucifer  or  a  Promethean." 

"  Not  a  bad  idea,  Pike,"  answered  Mr.  Penniloe.  "  I 
believe  that  each  of  them  will  burn  for  half  an  hour." 

Soon  he  returned  with  the  driest  of  them  from  the  iron 
loop  under  the  covered  space,  and  this  took  fire  very 
heartily,  being  made  of  twisted  tow  soaked  in  resin. 

"  I  am  rather  big  for  this  job  ;"  said  Sir  Thomas,  as  the 
red  flame  sputtered  in  the  archway ;  "  perhaps  you  would 
like  to  go  first,  my  young  friend." 

"  Very  much  obliged,"  replied  Pike,  drawing  back, 
"  but  I  don't  seem  to  feel  myself  called  upon  to  rush  into 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  among  six  centuries  of  ghosts.  I 
had  better  stop  here,  perhaps,  till  you  come  back." 


460  PEKLYCEOSS 

"Very  well.  At  any  rate,  hold  my  coat.  It  is  bad  enough ; 
I  don't  want  to  make  it  worse.  I  sha'n't  be  long,  I  dare 
say.  But  I  am  bound  to  see  the  end  of  it." 

"  Young  Waldron  handed  his  coat  to  Pike,  and,  stooping 
his  tall  head  with  the  torch  well  in  front  of  him,  plunged 
into  the  dark  arcade.  Grim  shadows  flitted  along  the  roof 
as  the  sound  of  his  heavy  steps  came  back ;  then  the  torch- 
light vanished  round  a  bend  of  wall,  and  nothing  could 
either  be  seen  or  heard.  Mr.  Penniloe,  in  some  anxiety, 
leaned  over  the  breach  in  the  church-yard  fence,  striving 
to  see  what  was  under  his  feet,  while  Pike  mustered  cour- 
age to  stand  in  the  archway — which  was  of  roughly  chis- 
elled stone — but  kept  himself  ready  for  instant  flight  as 
he  drew  deep  breaths  of  excitement. 

By-and-by  the  torch  came  quivering  back,  throwing 
flits  of  light  along  the  white-flint  roof;  and  behind  it  a 
man,  shaking  worse  than  any  shadow,  and  whiter  than 
any  torchlit  chalk. 

"  Great  God !"  he  cried,  staggering  forth,  and  falling 
with  his  hand  on  his  heart  against  the  steep  side  of  the 
pit,  "  as  sure  as  there  is  a  God  in  heaven,  I  have  found 
my  father !" 

"  What !"  cried  the  parson  ;  "Pike,  see  to  the  torch,  or 
you'll  both  be  on  fire." 

In  a  moment  he  ran  round  by  way  of  the  stile  and  slid 
into  the  pit  without  thinking  of  his  legs,  laying  hold  of 
some  long  rasps  of  ivy.  Pike  very  nimbly  leaped  up  the 
other  side  —  this  was  not  the  sort  of  hole  to  throw  a 
fly  in. 

"  Give  me  the  torch.  You  stay  here,  Tom.  You  have 
had  enough  of  it."  Mr.  Penniloe's  breath  was  short  be- 
cause of  the  speed  he  had  made  of  it.  "  It  is  my  place 
now.  You  stop  here  and  get  the  air." 

"  I  think  it  is  rather  my  place  than  of  any  other  man 
upon  the  earth.  Am  I  afraid  of  my  own  dear  dad  ?  Fol- 
low me,  and  I  will  show  him  to  you." 

He  went  with  a  slow  step,  dazed  out  of  all  wonder — as 
a  man  in  a  dream  accepts  everything — down  the  dark  pas- 
sage again,  and  through  the  ice-cold  air  and  the  shivering 
fire.  Then  he  stopped  suddenly  and  lowered  the  torch, 
stooping  his  curly  head  in  lowliness  behind  it ;  and  there, 


HIS    LAST    BIVOUAC  461 

as  if  set  down  by  the  bearers  for  a  rest,  lay  a  long  oaken 
coffin. 

Mr.  Penniloe  came  to  his  side  and  gazed.  At  their  feet 
lay  the  good  and  true-hearted  colonel,  or  all  of  him  left 
below  the  heavens,  resting  placidly,  unprofaned,  untouched 
by  even  the  hand  of  time ;  unsullied  and  honourable  in  his 
death  as  in  his  loyal  and  blameless  life. 

The  clear  light  fell  upon  the  diamond  of  glass  (framed 
in  the  oak  above  his  face,  as  was  often  done  then  for  the 
last  look  of  love),  and  it  showed  his  white  curls  and  tran- 
quil forehead, and  eyelids  forever  closed  against  all  dis- 
appointment. 

His  son  could  not  speak,  but  sobbed  and  shook  with 
love  and  reverence  and  manly  grief.  But  the  clergyman, 
with  a  godly  joy  and  immortal  faith  and  heavenly  hope, 
knelt  at  the  foot,  and  lifted  hands  and  eyes  to  the  God  of 
heaven. 

"  Behold,  He  hath  not  forsaken  us  I  His  mercy  is  over 
all  His  works.  And  His  goodness  is  upon  the  children  of 


CHAPTEE   XLIII 

TWO    FINE    LESSONS 

AT  the  Old  Barn  that  afternoon  no  sooner  was  young 
Sir  Thomas  gone  than  remarkable  things  began  to  hap- 
pen. As  was  observed  in  a  previous  case,  few  of  us  are 
yet  so  vast  of  mind  as  to  feel  deeply  and  fairly  enjoy  the 
justice  of  being  served  with  our  own  sauce.  Haply  this 
is  why  sauce  and  justice  are  in  Latin  the  self-same  word. 
Few  of  us  even  are  so  candid  as  to  perceive  when  it 
comes  to  pass ;  more  often  is  a  world  of  difference  found 
between  what  we  gave  and  what  we  got. 

Fox  was  now  treated  by  Nicie's  brother  exactly  as  he 
had  treated  Gilham  about  his  sister  Christie.  He  was  not 
remarkably  rash  of  mind — which  was  ever  so  much  better 
for  himself  and  friends — yet  he  was  quick  of  perception  ; 
and  when  his  sister  came  and  looked  at  him,  and  said  with 
gentle  sympathy — "  Oh,  Jemmy,  has  Sir  Thomas  forbid- 
den your  bans  ?  No  wonder  you  threw  his  hat  at  him  " — 
it  was  a  little  more  than  he  could  do  not  to  grin  at  the 
force  of  analogy. 

"  He  is  mad,"  he  replied,  with  strong  decision.  Yet  at 
the  twinkle  of  her  eyes  he  wondered  whether  she  held 
that  explanation  valid,  in  a  like  case,  not  so  very  long 
ago. 

"  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  it  altogether,"  he  contin- 
ued, with  the  air  magnanimous.  "  It  is  useless  to  strive 
against  the  force  of  circumstances." 

"  Made  up  your  mind  to  give  up  Nicie  because  her 
brother  disapproves  of  it?"  Christie  knew  well  enough 
what  he  meant.  But  can  girls  be  magnanimous  ? 

"  I  should  think  not.  How  can  you  be  so  stupid?  What 
has  a  brother's  approval  to  do  with  it?  Do  you  think  I 
care  twopence  for  fifty  thousand  brothers  ?  Brothers  are 


TWO    FINE    LESSONS  463 

all  very  well  in  their  way ;  but  let  them  stick  to  their  own 
business.  A  girl's  heart  is  her  own,  I  should  hope ;  and 
her  happiness  depends  on  herself,  not  her  brother.  I  call 
it  a  great  piece  of  impudence  for  a  brother  to  interfere  in 
such  matters." 

"  Oh  !"  said  Christie,  and  nothing  more.  Neither  did 
she  even  smile ;  but  went  to  the  window,  and  smoothed 
her  apron-,  the  pretty  one  she  wore  when  she  was  mixing 
water-colours. 

"  You  shall  come  and  see  him  now,"  said  Jemmy,  look- 
ing at  the  light  that  was  dancing  in  her  curls,  but  too  lofty 
to  suspect  that  inward  laughter  made  them  dance.  "  It 
can't  hurt  him  now,  and  my  opinion  is  that  it  might  even 
do  him  a  great  deal  of  good.  I'll  soon  have  him  ready, 
and  I'll  send  his  blessed  mother  to  make  another  sauce- 
panful  of  chicken  broth.  And,  Chris,  I'll  give  you  clear 
decks,  honour  bright." 

"  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  to  understand  your  meaning." 
The  mendacious  Christie  turned  round,  and  fixed  her  bright 
eyes  upon  his  most  grandly,  as  girls  often  do,  when  they 
tell  white  lies  —  perhaps  to  see  how  they  are  swallowed. 

"  Very  well,  then ;  that  is  all  right.  It  will  save  a  lot  of 
trouble,  and  perhaps  it  is  better  to  leave  him  alone." 

"  There  again !  You  never  seem  to  understand  me, 
Jemmy  !  And  of  course  you  don't  care  how  much  it  up- 
sets a  poor  patient  never  to  see  a  change  of  faces.  Of 
course  you  are  very  kind,  and  so  is  Dr.  Gronow ;  and 
poor  Mrs.  Gilham  is  a  most  delightful  person.  Still,  after 
being  for  all  that  time  so  desperately  limited  —  that's  not 
the  word  at  all — I  mean  so,  to  some  extent  restricted,  or  if 
you  prefer  it,  prohibited,  from  —  from  any  little  change, 
any  sort  of  variety  of  expressions,  of  surroundings,  of,  in 
fact,  society — " 

"Ah  yes,  no  doubt!  Of  etcetera,  etcetera.  But  go 
you  on  floundering  till  I  come  back,  and  perhaps  then  you 
will  know  what  you  mean.  Perhaps  also  you  would  look 
a  little  more  decent  with  your  apron  off,"  Dr.  Fox  sug- 
gested, with  the  noble  rudeness  so  often  dealt  out  to  sis- 
ters. "  Be  sure  you  remind  him  that  yesterday  was  Leap- 
year's  Day ;  and  then  perhaps  you  will  be  able  to  find  some 
one  to  understand  you." 


464  PERLYCROSS 

"  If  that  is  the  case,  you  may  be  quite  certain  I  won't 
go  near  him." 

But  before  very  long  she  thought  better  of  that.  Was 
it  just  to  punish  one  for  the  offences  of  another  ?  With 
a  colour  like  the  first  bud  of  monthly  rose  peeping  through 
its  sepals  in  the  southern  corner,  she  ran  into  the  shrub- 
bery— for  there  was  nothing  to  call  a  garden  —  and  gath- 
ered a  little  posy  of  Russian  violets  and  wild  primrose. 
Then  she  pulled  her  apron  off,  and  had  a  good  look  at 
herself,  and  could  not  help  knowing  that  she  had  not  seen 
a  lovelier  thing  for  a  long  time ;  and  if  love  would  only 
multiply  by  two — and  it  generally  does  so  by  a  thousand 
—  the  result  would  be  something  stupendous,  ineffable, 
adorable. 

Such  thoughts  are  very  bright  and  cheerful,  full  of  glow- 
ing youth  and  kindness,  young  romance,  and  contempt  of 
earth.  But  the  longer  we  plod  on  this  earth  the  deeper  we 
stick  into  it ;  as  must  be  when  the  foot  grows  heavy,  having 
no  talaria.  Long- enduring  pain  produces  a  like  effect 
with  lapse  of  years.  The  spring  of  the  system  loses  coil 
from  being  on  perpetual  strain;  sad  proverbs  flock  into 
the  brain  instead  of  dancing  verses. 

Frank  Gilham  had  been  ploughed  and  harrowed,  clod- 
crushed,  drilled,  and  sacrificed  by  the  most  advanced,  en- 
lightened, and  practical  of  all  medical  high -farmers.  If 
ever  Fox  left  him  to  get  a  breath  of  air,  Gronow  came  in 
to  keep  the  screw  on;  and  when  they  were  both  worn 
out,  young  Webber  (who  began  to  see  how  much  he  had 
to  learn,  and  what  was  for  his  highest  interest)  was  al- 
lowed to  sit  by  and  do  nothing.  A  consultation  was  held 
whenever  the  time  hung  heavily  on  their  hands,  and  Web- 
ber would  have  liked  to  say  a  word  if  it  could  have  been 
uttered  without  a  snub.  Meanwhile  Frank  Gilham  got 
the  worst  of  it. 

At  last  he  had  been  allowed  to  leave  his  bed  and  taste 
a  little  of  the  fine  spring  air  flowing  down  from  Hagdon 
Hill,  and  bearing  the  first  waft  of  the  furze-bloom.  Hag- 
gard weariness  and  giddy  lightness,  and  a  vacant  wonder- 
ing doubt  (as  to  who  or  what  he  was,  that  scarcely  seemed 
worth  puzzling  out)  would  have  proved  to  any  one  who 
cared  to  know  it  that  his  head  had  lain  too  long  in  one 


TWO   FINE    LESSONS  465 

position,  and  was  not  yet  reconciled  to  the  change.  And 
yet  it  should  have  welcomed  this  relief,  if  virtue  there  be 
in  heredity,  inasmuch  as  this  sofa  came  from  White  Post 
Farm,  and  must  have  comforted  the  head  of  many  a  sick 
progenitor. 

The  globe  of  thought  being  in  this  state,  and  the  arm 
of  action  crippled,  the  question  was:  Would  heart  arise, 
dispense  with  both,  and  have  its  way  ? 

For  a  while  it  seemed  a  doubtful  thing,  so  tedious  had 
the  conflict  been,  and  such  emptiness  left  behind  it.  The 
young  man,  after  dreams  most  blissful  and  hopes  too  gold- 
en to  have  any  kin  with  gilt,  was  reduced  to  bare  bones  and 
plastered  elbows  and  knees  unsafe  to  go  down  upon.  But 
the  turn  of  the  tide  of  human  life  quivers  to  the  influence 
of  heaven. 

In  came  Christie,  like  a  flush  of  health,  rosy  with  bright 
maidenhood,  yet  tremulous  as  a  lily  is  with  gentle  fear  and 
tenderness.  Pity  is  akin  to  love,  as  those  who  know  them 
both  and  in  their  larger  hearts  have  felt  them,  for  our 
smaller  sakes  pronounce ;  but  when  the  love  is  far  in  front 
and  pauses  at  the  check  of  pride,  what  chance  has  pride 
if  pity  comes  and  takes  her  mistress  by  the  hand,  and 
whispers,  "  Try  to  comfort  him  ?" 

None  can  tell  who  are  not  in  the  case,  and  those  who  are 
know  little  of  it,  how  these  strange  things  come  to  pass. 
But  sure  it  is  that  they  have  their  way.  The  bashful, 
proud,  light-hearted  maiden,  ready  to  make  a  joke  of  love 
and  laugh  at  such  a  fantasy,  was  so  overwhelmed  with 
pity  that  the  bashfulness  forgot  to  blush,  the  pride  cast 
down  its  frightened  eyes,  and  the  levity  burst  into  tears. 
But  of  all  these  things  she  remembered  none. 

And,  forsooth,  they  may  well  be  considered  doubtful,  in 
common  with  many  harder  facts,  because  the  house  was 
turned  upside-down  before  any  more  could  be  known  of 
it.  There  was  coming,  and  going,  and  stamping  of  feet ; 
horses  looking  in  at  the  door  and  women  calling  out  of  it ; 
and  such  a  shouting  and  hurrahing,  not  only  here  but  all 
over  the  village,  that  the  Perle  itself  might  well  have 
stopped,  like  Simois  and  Scamander,  to  ask  what  the  fish 
out  of  water  were  doing.  And  it  might  have  stopped  long, 
without  being  much  wiser,  so  thoroughly  everybody's 
20* 


466  PERLYCROSS 

head  was  flown,  and  everybody's  mouth  filled  with  much 
more  than  the  biggest  ears  found  room  for. 

To  put  it  in  order  is  a  hopeless  job,  because  all  order 
was  gone  to  grit.  But  as  concerns  the  Old  Barn  (whose 
thatch,  being  used  to  quiet  eaves-droppings,  had  enough 
to  make  it  stand  up  in  sheaf  again) — first  dashed  up  a 
young  man  on  horseback  (and  the  sympathetic  nag  was 
half  mad  also),  the  horse  knocking  sparks  out  of  the  ground 
as  if  he  had  never  heard  of  lucifers,  and  the  man  with  his 
legs  all  out  of  saddle,  waving  a  thing  that  looked  like  a 
letter,  and  shouting  as  if  all  literature  were  comprised  in 
viva  voce.  Now  this  was  young  Farrant,  the  son  of  the 
church-warden ;  and  really  there  was  no  excuse  for  him ; 
for  the  Farrants  are  a  very  clever  race ;  and  as  yet  com- 
petitive examination  had  not  made  the  sight  of  paper 
loathsome  to  any  mind  cultivating  self-respect. 

"  You  come  out  and  just  read  this !"  he  shouted  to  the 
Barn  in  general.  "  You  never  heard  such  a  thing  in  all 
vour  life.  All  the  village  is  madder  than  any  March  hare. 
I  sha'n't  tell  you  a  word  of  it.  You  come  cut  and  read  ; 
and  if  that  doesn't  fetch  yon  out,  you  must  be  a  clam  of 
oysters.  If  you  don't  believe  me,  come  and  see  it  for 
yourselves.  Only  you  will  have  to  get  by  Jakes,  and  he  is 
standing  at  the  mouth,  with  his  French  sword  drawn." 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven,  what  the  devil  do  you  mean  ?" 
cried  Fox,  running  out,  and  catching  fire  of  like  madness, 
of  all  human  elements  the  most  explosive;  "and  this — why, 
this  letter  is  the  maddest  thing  of  all !  A  man  who  was 
bursting  to  knock  me  down  scarcely  two  gurgles  of  the 
clock  ago !  And  now  I  am  his  beloved  Jemmy !  Mrs. 
Gilham,  do  come  out !  Surely  that  chicken  has  been  stewed 
to  death.  Oh,  ma'am,  you  have  some  sense  in  you.  Every- 
body else  is  gone  off  his  head.  Who  can  make  head  or  tail 
of  this  ?  Let  me  entreat  you  to  read  it,  Mrs.  Gilham.  Far- 
rant,  you'll  be  over  that  colt's  head  directly !  Mrs.  Gilham, 
this  is  meant  for  a  saner  eye  than  mine.  Your  head-piece 
is  always  full  of  self-possession." 

Highly  flattered  with  this  tribute,  the  old  lady  put  on 
her  spectacles  and  read,  slowly  and  decorously : 

"  BELOVED  JEMMY, — I  am  all  that  you  called  me — a  hot- 


TWO    FINE    LESSONS  46*7 

headed  fool  and  a  cad,  and  everything  vile  on  the  back  of 
it.  The  doctors  are  the  finest  chaps  alive,  because  they 
have  never  done  harm  to  the  dead.  Come  down  at  once, 
and  put  a  bar  across,  because  Jakes  must  have  his  sup- 
per. Perlycross  folk  are  the  best  in  the  world,  and  the 
kindest-hearted,  but  we  must  not  let  them  go  in  there.  I 
am  off  home,  for  if  anybody  else  was  to  get  in  front  of 
me  and  tell  my  mother,  I  should  go  wild,  and  she  would 
be  quite  upset.  When  you  have  done  all  you  think  prop- 
er, come  up  and  see  poor  Nicie. 

"  From  your  affectionate  and  very  sorry 

"  T.  R.  WALDRON." 

"  Now  the  other,  ma'am  !"  cried  Dr.  Fox.  "  Here  is 
another  from  the  parson.  Oh,  come  now,  we  shall  have  a 
little  common-sense." 

"  MY  DEAR  JEMMY, — It  has  pleased  the  Lord,  who  never 
afflicts  us  without  good  purpose,  to  remove  that  long  and 
very  heavy  trouble  from  us.  We  have  found  the  mortal 
remains  of  my  dear  friend,  untouched  by  any  human  hand, 
in  a  hollow  way  leading  from  the  Abbey  to  the  church. 
We  have  not  yet  discovered  how  it  happened,  and  I  can- 
not stop  to  tell  you  more,  for  I  must  go  at  once  to  Wal- 
derscourt,  lest  rumour  should  get  there  before  us  ;  and  Sir 
Thomas  must  not  go  alone,  being  of  rather  headlong 
though  very  noble  nature.  Sergeant  Jakes  has  been  placed 
on  guard  against  any  rash  curiosity.  I  have  sent  for  the 
two  church-wardens,  and  can  leave  it  safely  to  them  and 
to  you  to  see  that  all  is  done  properly.  If  it  can  be  man- 
aged without  undue  haste,  the  coffin  should  be  placed  in- 
side the  church,  and  the  doors  locked  until  the  morning. 
When  that  is  done,  barricade  the  entrance  to  the  tunnel, 
although  I  am  sure  that  the  people  of  our  parish  would 
have  too  much  right  feeling,  as  well  as  apprehension,  to 
attempt  to  make  their  way  in  after  dark.  To-morrow  I 
trust  we  shall  offer  humble  thanks  to  the  Giver  of  all 
good  for  this  great  mercy.  I  propose  to  hold  a  short 
special  service,  though  I  fear  there  is  no  precedent  in  the 
Prayer-book.  This  will  take  a  vast  weight  off  your  mind, 
as  well  as  mine,  which  has  been  sorely  tried.  I  beg  you 


468  PEKLYCKOSS 

not  to  lose  a  minute,  as  many  people  might  become  un- 
duly excited. 

"  Most  truly  yours, 

"  PHILIP  PENNILOE." 

"P.S. — This  relieves  us  also  from  another  dark  anxiety, 
simply  explaining  the  downfall  of  the  S.E.  corner  of  the 
chancel." 

"  It  seems  hard  upon  me,  but  it  must  be  right,  because 
the  parson  has  decreed  it !"  Dr.  Fox  cried,  without  a  par- 
ticle of  what  is  now  called  "slavish  adulation  of  the 
Church  "  —  which  scarcely  stuck  up  for  herself  in  those 
days  —  but  by  virtue  of  the  influence  which  a  kind  and 
good  man  always  gains  when  he  does  not  overstrain  his 
rights.  "  I  am  off,  Mrs.  Gilham ;  I  can  trust  you  to  see  to 
the  pair  of  invalids  upstairs." 

Then  he  jumped  upon  young  Mr.  Farrant's  horse,  and 
leaving  him  to  follow  at  foot  leisure,  dashed  down  the  hill 
towards  Perly cross.  At  the  four  cross-roads,  which  are 
the  key  of  the  position,  and  have  all  the  village  and  the 
valley  in  command,  he  found  as  fine  a  concourse  perhaps 
as  had  been  there  since  the  great  days  of  the  Romans. 
Not  a  rush  of  dread  and  doubting  and  of  shivering  back- 
bones, such  as  had  been  on  that  hoary  morning,  when  the 
sun  came  through  the  fog  and  showed  Church-warden 
Farmer  John,  and  Channing  the  clerk,  and  Blacksmith 
Craig,  trudging  from  the  potato-field  full  of  ghostly  tid- 
ings, and  encountering  at  that  very  spot  Sergeant  Jakes 
and  Cornish,  and  the  tremulous  tramp  of  half  the  village, 
afraid  of  resurrection. 

Instead  of  hurrying  from  the  church-yard,  as  a  haunt  of 
ghouls  and  fiends,  all  were  hastening  towards  it  now  with 
deep  respect  reviving.  The  people  who  lived  beyond  the 
bridge,  and  even  beyond  the  factory,  and  were  much  in- 
clined by  local  right  to  sit  under  the  dissenting  minister 
— himself  a  very  good  man,  and  working  in  harmony  with 
the  curate  —  many  of  these,  and  even  some  from  Priest- 
well,  having  heard  of  it,  pushed  their  right  to  know  every- 
thing in  front  of  those  who  lived  close  to  the  church  and 
looked  through  the  railings  every  day.  Farmer  John 
Horner  was  there  on  his  horse,  trotting  slowly  up  and 


TWO    FINE    LESSONS  469 

down  as  brave  as  a  mounted  policeman  is,  and,  knowing 
every  one  by  name,  called  out  to  him  to  behave  himself. 
Moreover,  Walter  Haddon  stood  at  the  door  of  the  Ivy- 
bush,  with  his  coat  off,  and  his  shirt-sleeves  rolled,  and 
ready  to  double  his  fist  at  any  man  who  only  drank  small 
beer,  at  the  very  first  sign  of  tumult.  But,  candidly 
speaking,  this  was  needless,  powerful  as  the  upheaval  was, 
and  hot  the  spirit  of  inquiry  ;  for  the  wives  of  most  of 
the  men  were  there,  and  happily  in  an  English  crowd  that 
always  makes  for  good  manners. 

Fox  was  received  with  loud  hurrahs,  and  many  ran  for- 
ward to  shake  his  hand  ;  some,  who  had  been  most  black 
and  bitter  in  their  vile  suspicions,  having  the  manliness  to 
beg  his  pardon  and  abuse  themselves  very  heartily.  He 
forgave  them  with  much  frankness,  as  behooves  an  English- 
man, and  with  a  pleasant  smile  at  their  folly,  which  also 
is  nicely  national.  For,  after  all,  there  is  no  other  race 
than  can  give  and  take  as  we  do ;  not  by  any  means  head- 
long, yet  insisting  upon  decision  —  of  the  other  side,  at 
any  rate — and  thus  quickening  the  sense  of  justice,  upon 
the  average,  in  our  favour. 

Fox,  with  the  truly  British  face  of  one  who  is  under- 
stood at  last,  but  makes  no  fuss  about  it,  gave  up  his  horse 
at  the  lych-gate,  and  made  off  where  he  was  beckoned 
for.  Here  were  three  scaffold-poles  and  slings  fixed  over 
the  entrance  to  the  ancient  under-way ;  and  before  dark 
all  was  managed  well.  And  then  a  short  procession, 
headed  by  the  martial  march  of  Jakes,  conveyed  into  the 
venerable  church  the  mortal  part  of  a  just  and  kind  man 
and  a  noble  soldier,  to  be  consigned  to-morrow  to  a  more 
secure  and  ever  tranquil  and  still  honoured  resting-place. 

This  being  done,  the  need  of  understanding  must  be 
satisfied.  Dr.  Fox  and  Dr.  G-ronow,  with  the  two  church- 
wardens and  Channing  the  clerk,  descended  the  ladder 
into  the  hole,  and  with  a  couple  of  torches  kindled  went 
to  see  the  cause  and  manner  of  this  strange  yet  simple 
matter — a  four-month  mystery  of  darkness  henceforth  as 
clear  as  daylight. 

When  they  beheld  it  they  were  surprised,  not  at  the 
thing  itself — for  it  could  scarcely  have  happened  other- 
wise under  the  circumstances  —  but  at  the  coincidences, 


470  PERLYCEOSS 

which  had  led  so  many  people  of  very  keen  intelligence 
into,  as  might  almost  be  said,  every  track  except. the  right 
one.  And  this  brought  home  to  them  one  great  lesson : 
"  If  you  wish  to  be  sure  of  a  thing,  see  it  with  your  own 
good  eyes"  And  another — but  that  comes  afterwards. 

The  passage,  dug  by  the  monks  no  doubt,  led  from  the 
Abbey  directly  westward  to  the  chancel  of  the  church, 
probably  to  enable  them  to  carry  their  tapers  burning, 
and  discharge  their  duties  there  promptly  and  with  vest- 
ments dry,  in  defiance  of  the  weather.  The  crown  of 
loose  flints  set  in  mortar  was  some  eight  feet  under- 
ground, and  the  line  it  took  was  that  adopted  in  all  Chris- 
tian burial.  The  grave  of  the  late  Sir  Thomas  Waldron 
was  prepared,  as  he  had  wished,  far  away  from  the  family 
vault  (which  had  sadly  undermined  the  church),  and 
towards  the  eastern  end  of  the  yard,  as  yet  not  much  in- 
habited. As  it  chanced,  the  bottom  lay  directly  along  a 
weak  or  worn-out  part  of  the  concrete  arch  below ;  and 
the  men  who  dug  it  said  at  the  time  that  their  spades 
had  struck  on  something  hard,  which  they  took  to  be 
loose  blocks  of  flint.  However,  being  satisfied  with  their 
depth,  and  having  orders  to  wall  the  bottom,  they  laid  on 
either  side  some  nine  or  ten  courses  of  brickwork,  well 
flushed  in  with  strong  and  binding  mortar ;  but  the  ends 
being  safe  and  bricks  running  short,  to  save  any  further 
trouble  they  omitted  the  cross -wall  at  the  ends.  Thus 
when  the  weight  of  earth  cast  in  pressed  more  and  more 
heavily  upon  the  heavy  coffin,  the  dome  of  concreted  flints 
below  collapsed,  the  solid  oaken  box  dropped  quietly  to 
the  bottom  of  the  tunnel,  and  the  dwarf  brick  sides  hav- 
ing no  tie  across,  but  being  well  bonded  together  and 
well-footed,  fell  across  the  vacancy  into  one  another,  form- 
ing a  new  arch,  or  more  correctly  a  splay  span-roof,  in 
lieu  of  the  old  arch  which  had  yielded  to  the  strain. 
Thus  the  earth  above  took  this  new  bearing,  and  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  was  no  more  disturbed  than  it  always 
is  by  settlement. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  in  the  hurried  search,  by  men  who 
had  not  been  down  there  before,  and  had  not  heard  of  any 
brickwork  at  the  sides,  and  were  at  that  moment  in  a  high- 
ly nervous  state,  not  only  was  the  grave  reported  empty — 


TWO    FINE    LESSONS  47 1 

which,  of  course,  was  true  enough — but  no  suspicion  was 
entertained  that  the  bottom  they  came  to  (now  covered 
with  earth)  was  anything-  else  than  a  rough  platform  for 
the  resting-place.  And  the  two  who  could  have  told  them 
better,  being  proud  of  their  skill  in  foundations,  had  joined 
the  builders'  staff,  and  been  sent  away  to  distant  jobs. 

In  the  heat  of  foregone  conclusion,  and  the  terror  created 
by  the  blacksmith's  tale,  and  the  sad  condition  of  that 
faithful  little  Jess,  the  report  had  been  taken  as  final.  No 
further  quest  seemed  needful ;  and  at  Squire  Mockham's 
order  the  empty  space  had  been  filled  in  at  once  for  fear 
of  the  excitement  and  throng  of  vulgar  gazers,  gathering 
and  thickening  around  the  empty  grave. 

Such  are  the  cases  that  make  us  wonder  at  the  power 
of  coincidence,  and  the  very  strange  fact  that  the  less 
things  seem  to  have  to  do  with  one  another,  the  greater  is 
their  force  upon  the  human  mind  when  it  tries  to  be  too 
logical. 

Many  little  things,  all  far  apart,  had  been  fetched  to- 
gether by  fine  reasoning  process,  and  made  to  converge 
towards  a  very  fine  error,  with  certainty  universal. 

Even  that  humble  agent,  or  patient,  little  Jess — despised 
as  a  dog  by  the  many  who  have  no  delight  in  their  better 
selves — had  contributed  very  largely  to  the  confluence  of 
panic.  If  she  could  only  have  thrown  the  light  of  lan- 

fuage  on  her  woful  plight,  the  strongest  clinch  to  the 
lacksmith's  ta^e  would  never  have  come  near  his  pincers. 
For  the  slash  that  rewarded  her  true  love  fell,  not  from 
the  spade  of  a  church-yard  robber,  but  from  a  poacher's 
bill  -  hook.  This  has  already  been  intimated ;  and  Mr. 
Penniloe  must  have  learn sd  it  then  if  he  had  simply 
taken  time,  instead  of  making  off  at  five  miles  an  hour 
when  Speccotty  wanted  to  tell  his  tale.  This  should  be  a 
warning  to  clergymen ;  for  perhaps  there  was  no  other 
man  in  the  parish  whose  case  the  good  parson  would  thus 
have  postponed  without  prospect  of  higher  consolation. 
And  it  does  seem  a  little  too  hard  upon  a  man  that  be- 
cause his  mind  is  gone  astray  unawares  his  soul  should 
drop  out  of  cultivation  ! 

That  poor  little  spaniel  was  going  home  sadly  to  get  a 
bit  of  breakfast  and  come  back  to  her  duty,  when,  tres- 


472  PERLYCKOSS 

passing  unwittingly  upon  the  poacher's  tricks,  at  early 
wink  of  daylight,  she  was  taken  for  a  minion  of  the  Evil 
One,  and  met  with  a  vigour  which  is  shown  too  seldom,  by 
even  true  sportsmen,  to  his  emissaries.  Perhaps  before 
she  quitted  guard  she  may  have  had  a  nip  at  the  flowers 
on  the  grave,  and  dropped  them  back  when  she  failed  to 
make  sweet  bones  of  them. 

Without  further  words — though  any  number  of  words, 
if  their  weight  were  by  the  score,  would  be  too  few — the 
slowest-headed  man  in  Perlycross  might  lay  to  his  heart 
the  second  lesson,  read  in  as  mild  a  voice  as  Penniloe's, 
above.  And  without  a  word  at  all  he  may  be  trusted  to 
go  home  with  it,  when  the  job  is  of  other  folk's  hands, 
but  his  own  pocket. 

"Never  scamp  your  work  "  was  preached  more  clearly 
by  this  long  trouble  and  degradation  of  an  honourable  par- 
ish than  if  Mr.  Penniloe  had  stood  in  the  pulpit  for  a 
week  of  Sundays,  with  the  mouth  of  King  Solomon  laid 
to  his  ear  and  the  trump  of  the  Royal  Mail  upon  his  lips. 


CHAPTER    XLIV 
AND    ONE      STILL    FINER 

IF  it  be  sweet  to  watch  at  ease  the  troubles  of  another, 
how  much  sweeter  to  look  back  from  the  vantage-ground 
of  happiness  upon  one's  own  misfortunes.  To  be  able  to 
think  :  "  Well,  it  was  too  bad  !  Another  week  would  have 
killed  me.  How  I  pulled  through  it  is  more  than  I  can 
tell,  for  everybody  was  against  me.  And  the  luck — the 
luck  kept  playing  leap-frog;  fifty  plagues  all  upon  one 
another's  back,  and  my  poor  little  self  at  the  bottom. 
Not  a  friend  came  near  me ;  they  were  all  so  sorry,  but 
happened  to.be  frightfully  down  themselves.  I  assure 
you,  my  dear,  if  it  had  not  been  for  you,  and  the  thought 
of  our  blessed  children,  and  perhaps  my  own — well,  I 
won't  say  *  pluck,'  but  determination  to  go  through  with 
it,  instead  of  arranging  these  flowers  for  dinner  you  would 
have  been  wreathing  them  for  a  sadder  purpose." 

The  lady  sheds  a  tear,  and  says :  "  Darling  Jack,  see 
how  you  have  made  my  hand  shake !  I  have  almost 
spoiled  that  truss  of  Hoya,  and  this  Schubertia  won't 
stand  up.  But  you  never  said  a  word  about  it  at 
the  time  !  Was  that  fair  to  me,  Jack  ?"  And  the  like 
will  come  to  pass  again,  perhaps  next  year,  perhaps  next 
week. 

But  the  beauty  of  country-life  as  it  then  prevailed  (ere 
the  hungry  hawk  of  stock-exchange  poised  his  wings  above 
the  stock-dove)  was  to  take  things  gently,  softly,  with  a 
cooing  faith  of  goodness,  both  above  us  and  around.  Men 
must  work ;  but  being  born  (as  their  best  friends,  the 
horses,  are)  for  that  especial  purpose,  why  should  they 
make  it  still  more  sad  by  dwelling  upon  it  at  the  nose- 
bag time?  How  much  wiser  to  allow  that  turbulent  bit 
of  stuff,  the  mind,  to  abide  -at  ease,  and  take  things  in, 


474  PEELYCROSS 

rather  than  cast  them  forth  half-chewed,  in  the  style  of 
our  present  essayists? 

Now  this  old  village  was  the  right  sort  of  place  to  do 
such  things  without  knowing  it.  There  was  no  great 
leading  intellect  (with  his  hands  returned  to  feet),  to  beat 
the  hollow  drum,  and  play  shrill  fife,  and  set  everybody 
tumbling  over  his  best  friend's  head.  The  rule  of  the 
men  was  to  go  on  according  to  the  way  in  which  their 
fathers  went ;  talking  as  if  they  were  running  on  in  front, 
but  sticking  effectually  to  the  old  coat-tail.  Which  in  the 
long-run  is  the  wisest  thing  to  do. 

They  were  proud  of  their  church,  when  the  Sunday 
mood  was  on,  and  their  children  came  home  to  tell  about  it. 

There  she  was.  Let  her  stand,  if  the  folk  with  money 
could  support  her.  It  was  utterly  impossible  to  get  into 
their  heads  any  difference  between  the  church  in  the 
church-yard  and  the  one  that  inhabits  the  sky  above. 
When  a  man  has  been  hard  at  work  all  the  week,  let  his 
wife  be  his  better  half  on  Sunday. 

Nothing  that  ever  can  be  said  or  done  by  the  most 
ardent  "  pastor"  will  ever  produce  that  enthusiasm  among 
the  tegs  of  his  flock  which  spreads  so  freely  among  the 
ewes  and  lambs.  Mr.  Penniloe  would  not  be  called  a 
Pastor;  to  him  the  name  savoured  of  a  cant  conceit.  Neith- 
er did  he  call  himself  a  Priest;  for  him  it  was  quite  enough 
to  be  a  Clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  to  give 
his  life  to  that. 

Therefore,  when  the  time  came  round,  and  the  turn  of 
the  year  was  fit  for  it,  this  parson  of  that  humbler  type  was 
happy  to  finish,  without  fuss,  the  works  that  he  had  un- 
dertaken, with  a  lofty  confidence  in  the  Lord,  which  had 
come  to  ground  too  often.  His  faith,  though  fine,  had 
never  been  of  that  grandly  abstract  quality  which  expects 
the  ravens  to  come  down  with  bread  instead  of  bills,  and 
build  a  nest  for  sweet  doves  gratis.  To  pay  every  penny 
that  was  fairly  due,  and  shorten  no  man  of  his  Saturday 
.wage  towards  the  Sunday  consolation  ;  to  perceive  that 
business  must  not  be  treated  as  a  purely  spiritual  essence ; 
and  to  know  that  a  great  many  very  good  people  drip  away 
(as  tallow  does  from  its  own  wick)  from  the  quick  flare  of 
promises ;  also  to  bear  the  brunt  of  all,  and  cast  up  the  top- 


AND   ONE    STILL   FINER  475 

pling  column,  with  the  balance  coming  down  on  his  own 
chest — what  wonder  that  he  had  scarcely  any  dark  hair 
left,  and  even  the  silver  was  inclined  to  say  adieu  ? 

When  a  man  who  is  getting  on  in  years  comes  out  of 
a  long  anxiety  about  money,  and  honour,  and  his  sense  of 
right,  he  finds  even  in  the  soft  flush  of  relief  that  a  great 
deal  of  his  spring  is  gone.  A  Bachelor  of  Arts,  when  his 
ticks  laave  been  paid  by  a  groaning  governor,  is  fit  and 
fresh  to  start  again,  and  seldom  dwells  with  due  remorse 
upon  the  sacrifice  Vicarious.  His  father  also,  if  of  right 
paternal  spirit,  soars  above  the  unpleasant  subject ;  leaves 
it  to  the  mother  to  drive  home  the  lesson — which  she  feels 
already  to  be  too  severe — and  says,  "  Well,  Jack,  you  have 
got  your  degree  ;  and  that's  more  than  the  squire's  son  can 
boast  of." 

But  the  ancient  M.A.  of  ten  lustres,  who  has  run  into 
debt  on  his  own  hook,  and  felt  the  hook  running  into  him, 
is  in  very  different  plight,  even  when  he  has  wriggled  off. 
Parson  Penniloe  was  sorely  humbled,  his  placid  forehead 
sadly  wrinkled,  and  his  kindly  eyes  uncertain  how  to  look 
at  his  brother  men,  even  from  the  height  of  pulpit,  when 
in  his  tremulous  throat  stuck  fast  that  stern  and  difficult 
precept :  "Owe  no  man  anything." 

Even  the  strongest  of  mankind  can  scarcely  manage  to 
come  up  to  that  when  fortune  is  not  with  him,  and  his 
family  tug  the  other  way.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  may  be 
a  lofty  prospect,  but  becomes  a  cloudy  pillar  when  the 
column  is  cast  up  and  will  not  square  with  cash  in  hand. 
Scarcely  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  since  the  days  of  Abra- 
ham it  would  have  been  hard  to  find  a  man  of  stronger 
faith  than  Penniloe — except  at  the  times  when  ha  broke 
down  (in  vice  of  matters  physical),  and  proved  at  one  break 
two  ancient  creeds — Exceptio  probat  regulam,  and  Cor- 
ruptio  optimi  pessima. 

While  he  was  on  the  balance  now,  as  a  man  of  the  high- 
er ropes  should  be,  lifting  the  upper  end  of  his  pole  that 
the  glory  of  his  parish  shone  again,  yet  feeling  the  butt  in- 
clined to  swag  by  reason  of  the  bills  stuck  upon  it,  who 
should  come  into  the  audience  and  audit  but  young  Sir 
Thomas  Waldron  ?  This  youth  had  thought  perhaps  too 
little  of  himself — because  those  candid  friends,  his  brother- 


476  PEELYCKOSS 

boys,  had  always  spoken  of  his  body  so  kindly  without  a 
single  good  word  for  his  mind — but  now  he  was  author- 
ized, and  even  ordered,  by  universal  opinion  to  take  a  much 
fairer  view  of  his  own  value. 

Nothing  that  ever  yet  came  to  pass  has  gone  into  words 
without  some  shift  of  colour,  and  few  things  even  without 
change  of  form ;  and  so  it  would  have  been  beyond  all  nat- 
ure if  the  events  above  reported  had  been  told  with  per- 
fect accuracy  even  here.  How  much  less  could  this  be  so, 
in  the  hot  excitement  of  the  time,  with  every  man  eager  to 
excel  his  neighbour's  narrative,  and  every  woman  burning 
to  recall  it  with  her  own  pure  imagination !  What,  then, 
of  the  woman  who  had  been  blessed  enough  to  enrich  the 
world,  and  by  the  same  gift  ennoble  it,  with  the  hero,  who 
at  a  stroke  had  purged  the  family,  the  parish,  and  the  na- 
tion? 

Nevertheless,  he  came  in  gently,  modestly,  and  with 
some  misgivings,  into  the  room  where  he  had  trembled, 
blushed,  and  floundered  on  all  fours  over  the  old  gray 
Latin  steps  which  have  broken  many  a  knee-cap. 

"  If  you  please,  sir,"  he  said  to  his  old  tutor,  who  alone 
had  taught  him  anything,  for  at  Eton  he  had  barely  learned 
good  manners,  "my  mother  begs  you  to  read  this.  And 
we  are  all  ashamed  of  our  behaviour." 

"  No,  Tom,  no.  You  have  no  cause  for  that.  Your 
mother  may  have  been  a  little  hard  at  first.  But  she  has 
meant  to  be  just  throughout.  The  misery  she  has  passed 
through — none  but  herself  can  realize." 

"  You  see,  sir,  she  does  not  sing  out  about  things,  as 
most  women  do  ;  and  that  of  course  makes  it  ever  so  much 
worse  for  her." 

The  young  man  spoke  like  some  deep  student  of  femi- 
nine nature ;  but  his  words  were  only  those  of  the  good 
house-keeper  at  Walderscourt.  Mr.  Penniloe  took  them  in 
that  light,  and  began  to  read  without  reply : 

"  TRULY  ESTEEMED  AND  VALUED  SIR, — With  some  hesi- 
tation of  the  mind,  I  come  to  say  that  in  all  I  have  said  and 
done  my  mind  has  been  of  the  wrong  intelligence  most 
largely.  It  always  appears  in  this  land  of  Britain  as  if 
nobody  of  it  could  make  a  mistake.  But  we  have  not  in 


AND   ONE    STILL   FINER  477 

my  country  such  great  wisdom  and  good-fortune.  Also  in 
any  other  European  land  of  which  I  have  the  acquaintance 
the  natives  are  wrong  in  their  opinions  sometimes. 

"  But  this  does  not  excuse  me  of  my  mistake.  I  have 
been  unjust  to  you  and  to  all  people  living  around  my 
place  of  dwelling.  But  by  my  dear  son,  and  his  very  deep 
sagacity,  it  has  been  made  manifest  that  your  good  people 
were  considered  guilty,  without  proper  justice,  of  a  wrong 
upon  my  husband's  memory.  Also  that  your  good  church, 
of  which  he  thought  so  well  in  the  course  of  his  dear  life, 
has  treated  him  not  with  ignominy,  but  with  the  best  of 
her  attention,  receiving  him  into  the  sacred  parts,  where 
the  priests  of  our  religion  in  the  times  of  truth  conversed. 
This  is  to  me  of  the  holiest  and  most  gracious  consola- 
tion. 

"  Therefore  I  entreat  you  to  accept,  for  the  uses  of  so 
good  a  building,  the  little  sum  herewith  committed  to  your 
care,  which  flows  entirely  from  my  own  resources,  and  not 
from  the  property  of  my  dear  husband,  so  much  engaged 
in  the  distribution  of  the  law.  When  that  is  disengaged, 
my  dear  son  Rodrigo,  with  my  approbation,  will  contrib- 
ute from  it  the  same  amount  for  the  perfection  of  the 
matter." 

"  One,  two,  three,  four,  five.  And  every  one  of  them  a 
hundred  pounds  !  My  dear  Tom,  I  feel  a  doubt — " 

Mr.  Penniloe  leaned  back  and  thought.  He  was  never 
much  excited  about  money,  except  when  he  owed  it  to  or 
for  the  Lord. 

"  I  call  it  very  poor  amends  indeed.  What  would  ten 
times  as  much  be,  after  all  that  you  have  suffered  ?  And 
how  can  you  refuse  it  when  it  is  not  for  yourself?  My 
mother  will  be  hurt  most  dreadfully,  and  never  think  well 
again  of  the  Church  of  England." 

"Tom,  you  are  right,"  Mr.  Penniloe  replied,  while  a 
smile  flitted  over  his  conscience.  "  I  should  indeed  con- 
vey a  false  impression  of  the  character  of  our  dear  mother. 
But  as  for  the  other  £500 — well — " 

"  My  father's  character  must  be  considered  as  well  as 
your  good  mother's."  Sir  Thomas  was  not  strong  at  meta- 
phor. "  And  I  am  sure  of  one  thing,  sir.  If  he  could 


478  PERLY CROSS 

have  known  what  would  happen  about  him,  and  how 
beautifully  every  one  behaved,  except  his  own  people  — 
but  it's  no  use  talking.  If  you  don't  take  it  I  shall  join 
the  Early  Methodists.  What  do  you  think  of  that,  sir  ? 
I  am  always  as  good  as  my  word,  you  know." 

"  Ah,  ah,  it  may  be  so,"  the  curate  answered  thought- 
fully, returning  to  the  mildness  of  exclamation  from  which 
these  troubles  had  driven  him.  "  But  allow  me  a  little 
time  for  consideration.  Your  mother's  very  generous  gift 
I  can  accept  without  hesitation,  and  have  no  right  to  do 
otherwise.  But  as  to  your  father's  estate,  I  am  placed  in 
a  delicate  position  by  reason  of  my  trusteeship ;  and  it  is 
possible  that  I  might  go  wrong ;  at  any  rate,  I  must  con- 
sult—" 

"  Mrs.  Fox,  sir,  from  Foxden !"  Thyatira  Muggridge  cried, 
with  her  face  as  red  as  a  turkey's  wattles,  and  throwing  the 
door  of  the  humble  back  room  as  wide  as  if  it  never  could 
be  wide  enough.  For  the  lady  was  beautifully  arrayed. 

"  I  come  to  consult,  not  to  be  consulted.  My  confidence 
in  myself  has  been  misplaced,"  said  the  mother  of  Jemmy 
and  Christie,  after  making  the  due  salutation.  "  Sir 
Thomas,  I  beg  you  not  to  go.  You  have  some  right  to  a 
voice  in  the  matter  if,  as  they  tell  me  at  Old  Barn,  you 
have  conquered  your  repugnance  to  my  son,  and  are  ready 
to  receive  him  as  your  brother-in-law." 

"  Madam,  I  was  a  fool,"  said  Tom,  offering  his  great 
hand  with  a  sheepish  look.  "  Your  son  has  forgiven  me, 
and  I  hope  that  you  will.  Jemmy  is  the  finest  fellow  ever 
born." 

"  A  credit  to  his  mother,  as  his  mother  always  thought. 
And  what  is  still  better  for  himself,  a  happy  man  in  win- 
ning the  affections  of  the  sweetest  girl  on  earth.  I  have 
seen  your  dear  sister — what  a  gentle  darling !" 

"  Nicie  is  very  well  in  her  way,  madam.  But  she  has  a 
strong  will  of  her  own.  Jemmy  will  find  that  out  some 
day.  Upon  the  whole,  I  am  sorry  for  him." 

"  He  talks  in  the  very  same  way  of  his  sister.  If  young 
men  listened  to  young  men,  none  of  them  would  ever 
marry.  Oh,  Mr.  Penniloe,  you  can  be  trusted,  at  any  rate, 
to  look  at  things  from  a  higher  point  of  view." 

"  I  try  sometimes,  but  it  is  not  easy.     And  I  generally 


AND    ONE    STILL    FINEK  479 

get  into  scrapes  when  I  do.  But  I  have  one  consolation. 
Nobody  ever  takes  my  advice." 

"  I  mean  to  take  it,"  Mrs.  Fox  replied,  looking  into  his 
gentle  eyes  with  the  faith  which  clever  women  feel  in  a 
nature  larger  than  their  own.  "  You  need  not  suppose 
that  I  am  impulsive.  But  I  know  what  you  are.  When 
every  one  else  in  this  stupid  little  place  condemned  my 
son,  without  hearing  a  word,  there  was  one  who  was  too 
noble,  too  good  a  Christian,  to  listen  to  any  reason.  He 
was  right  when  the  mother  herself  was  wrong.  For  I  don't 
mind  telling  you,  as  I  have  even  told  my  son,  that  know- 
ing what  he  is,  I  could  not  help  suspecting  that  he — that 
he  had  something  to  do  with  it.  Not  that  Lady  Waldron 
had  any  right  whatever — and  it  will  take  me  a  long  time 
to  forgive  her,  and  her  son  is  quite  welcome  to  tell  her 
that.  What  you  felt  yourself  was  quite  different,  Sir 
Thomas." 

"  I  can't  see  that  my  mother  did  any  harm.  Why,  she 
even  suspected  her  own  twin-brother  !  If  you  were  to  bear 
ill-will  against  my  mother — " 

"  Of  such  little  tricks  I  am  incapable,  Sir  Thomas.  And, 
of  course,  I  can  allow  for  foreigners.  Even  twenty  years 
of  English  life  cannot  bring  them  to  see  things  as  we  do. 
Their  nature  is  so — well,  I  won't  say  narrow.  Neither  will 
I  say  *  bigoted,'  although — " 

"  We  quite  understand  you,  my  dear  madam."  Mr. 
Penniloe  was  shocked  at  his  own  rudeness  in  thus  inter- 
rupting a  lady ;  but  he  knew  that  very  little  more  would 
produce  a  bad  breach  between  Walderscourt  and  Foxden. 
"  What  a  difference  really  does  exist  among  people  equally 
just  and  upright — " 

"  My  dear  mother  is  as  just  and  upright  as  any  English- 
woman in  the  world,  Protestant  or  Catholic !"  the  young 
man  exclaimed,  having  temper  on  the  bubble,  yet  not  al- 
lowing it  to  boil  against  a  lady.  "  But  if  his  own  mother 
condemned  him,  how — I  can't  put  it  into  words,  as  I  mean 
it — how  can  she  be  in  a  wax  with  my  mother  ?  And  more 
than  that — as  it  happens,  Mrs.  Fox,  my  mother  starts  for 
Spain  to-day,  and  I  cannot  let  her  go  alone." 

"  Now  the  Lord  must  have  ordered  it  so,"  thought  the 
parson.  "  What  a  clearance  of  hostile  elements  !"  But 


480  PEELYCKOSS 

fearing  that  the  others  might  not  so  take  it,  he  said  only : 
"  Ah,  indeed  1" 

"  To  her  native  land  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Fox,  as  a  Protestant 
not  quite  unbigoted,  and  a  woman  who  longed  to  have  it 
out.  "  It  seems  an  extraordinary  thing  just  now.  But 
perhaps  it  is  a  pilgrimage." 

"  Yes,  madam,  for  about  £500,000,"  answered  Sir  Thom- 
as, in  his  youthful  Tory  vein,  not  emancipated  yet  from 
disdain  of  commerce ;  "  not  for  the  sake  of  the  money,  of 
course  ;  but  to  do  justice  to  the  brother  she  had  wronged. 
Mr.  Penniloe  can  tell  you  all  about  it.  I  am  not  much  of 
a  hand  at  arithmetic." 

"  We  won't  trouble  any  one  about  that  now,"  the  lady 
replied,  with  some  loftiness.  "  But  I  presume  that  Lady 
Waldron  would  wish  to  see  me  before  she  leaves  this 
country." 

"  Certainly  she  would  if  she  had  known  that  you  were 
here.  My  sister  had  not  come  back  yet  to  tell  her.  She 
will  be  disappointed  terribly  when  she  hears  that  you 
have  been  at  Perlycross.  But  she  is  compelled  to  catch 
the  packet,  and  I  fear  that  I  must  say  'good-bye';  mother 
would  never  forgive  me  if  she  lost  her  voyage  through 
any  fault  of  mine." 

"  You  see  how  they  treat  us  !"  said  Mrs.  Fox  of  Foxden, 
when  the  young  man  had  made  his  adieu  with  great  polite- 
ness. "I  suppose  you  understand  it,  Mr.  Penniloe,  though 
your  mind  is  so  very  much  larger  ?" 

The  clergyman  scarcely  knew  what  to  say.  He  was  not 
at  all  quick  in  the  ways  of  the  world ;  and  all  feminine 
rush  was  beyond  him.  "  We  must  all  allow  for  circum- 
stances," was  his  quiet  platitude. 

"  All  possible  allowance  I  can  make,"  the  lady  replied, 
with  much  self-command.  "  But  I  think  there  is  nothing 
more  despicable  than  this  small  county-family  feeling  !  Is 
Lady  Waldron  not  aware  that  I  am  connected  with  the 
very  foremost  of  your  Devonshire  families  ?  But  because 
my  husband  is  engaged  in  commerce,  a  military  race  may 
look  down  upon  us !  After  all,  I  should  like  to  know, 
what  are  your  proudest  landowners  but  mere  agriculturists 
by  deputy?  I  never  lose  my  temper;  but  it  makes  me 
laugh  when  1  remember  that,  after  all,  they  are  simply  de- 


AND   ONE   STILL   FINER  481 

pendent  upon  farming.  Is  not  that  what  it  comes  to,  Mr. 
Penniloe  ?" 

"  And  a  very  noble  occupation,  madam.  The  first  and 
the  finest  of  the  ways  ordained  by  the  Lord  for  the  suste- 
nance of  mankind.  Next  to  the  care  of  the  human  soul, 
what  vocation  can  be — " 

"  You  think  so.  Then  I  tell  you  what  I'll  do,  if  only  to 
let  those  Waldron's  know  how  little  we  care  for  their  prej- 
udices. Everything  depends  upon  me  now  in  my  poor 
husband's  sad  condition.  I  will  give  my  consent  to  my 
daughter's  alliance  —  great  people  call  it  alliance,  don't 
they  ? — with  a  young  man  who  is  a  mere  farmer !" 

"  I  am  assured  that  he  will  make  his  way,"  Mr.  Penniloe 
answered  with  some  inward  smile,  for  it  is  a  pleasant  path 
to  follow  in  the  track  of  ladies.  "  He  gets  a  higher  price 
for  pigs  than  either  of  my  church-wardens." 

"  What  could  you  desire  more  than  that  ?  It  is  a  proof 
of  the  highest  capacity.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Grilham  shall 
send  their  wedding-cards  to  Walderscourt  with  a  prime 
young  porker  engraved  on  them.  Oh,  Mr.  Penniloe,  I  am 
not  perfect.  But  I  have  an  unusual  gift  perhaps  of  large- 
ness of  mind  and  common-sense,  and  I  always  go  against 
any  one  who  endeavours  to  get  the  whip-hand  of  me.  And 
I  do  believe  my  darling  Christie  gets  it  from  her  mother." 

"  She  is  a  most  charming  young  lady,  Mrs.  Fox.  What 
a  treasure  she  would  be  in  this  parish  !  The  other  day  she 
said  a  thing  about  our  church — " 

"  Just  like  her.  She  is  always  doing  that.  And  when 
she  comes  into  her  own  money — but  that  is  a  low  consider- 
ation. It  is  gratitude,  my  dear  sir,  the  deepest  and  the  no- 
blest feeling  that  still  survives  in  these  latter  days.  Without 
that  heroic  young  man's  behaviour,  which  has  partly  dis- 
abled him  for  life,  I  fear,  I  should  have  neither  son  nor 
daughter.  And  you  say  that  the  Gilhams  are  of  very  good 
birth?" 

"  The  true  name  is  Guillaume,  I  believe.  Their  ances- 
tor came  with  the  Conqueror.  Not  as  a  rapacious  noble, 
but  in  a  most  useful  and  peaceful  vocation ;  in  fact — " 

"Quite  enough,  Mr.  Penniloe.  In  such  a  case,  one 
scorns  particulars.  My  daughter  was  sure  that  it  was  so. 
But  I  doubted,  although  you  can  see  it  in  his  bearing.  A 
21 


482  PEELYCEOSS 

more  thoroughly  modest  young  man  never  breathed ;  but 
I  shall  try  to  make  him  not  afraid  of  me.  He  told  my 
daughter  that,  in  his  opinion,  I  realized — but  you  would 
think  me  vain,  and  I  was  justly  annoyed  at  such  nonsense. 
However,  since  I  have  had  your  advice,  I  shall  hesitate  no 
longer." 

Mrs.  Fox  smiled  pleasantly,  because  her  mind  was  quite 
made  up  to  save  herself  a  world  of  useless  trouble  in  this 
matter,  and  yet  appear  to  take  the  upperhand  in  her  sur- 
render. 

Wondering  what  advice  he  could  have  been  supposed  to 
give,  the  mild  but  gallant  parson  led  her  to  the  Foxden 
carriage,  which  had  halted  at  his  outer  gate  and  opposite 
the  school-house.  Here  with  many  a  bow  they  parted, 
thinking  well  of  one  another,  and  hoping  for  the  like  re- 
gard. But  as  the  gentle  curate  passed  the  mouth  of  the 
Taenarian  tunnel  leading  to  his  lower  realms,  a  great  sur- 
prise befell  him. 

"  What  has  happened  ?  There  is  something  wrong. 
Surely  at  this  time  of  day  one  ought  to  see  the  sunset 
through  that  hole,"  he  communed  with  himself  in  wonder, 
for  the  dark  arcade  ran  from  east  to  west.  "There  must 
be  a  stoppage  somewhere.  I  am  almost  sure  I  can  see 
two  heads.  Good  people,  come  out,  whoever  you  may  be." 

"  The  fact  of  it  is,  sir,"  said  Sergeant  Jakes,  marching 
out  of  the  hole  with  great  dignity,  though  his  hat  was  white 
with  cobwebs — "  the  fact  of  it  is  that  this  good  lady  hath 
received  a  sudden  shock — " 

"  No  sir,  no  sir.  Not  at  all  like  that,  sir.  Only  as  St. 
Paul  saith  in  chapter  5  of  Ephesians:  'This  is  a  great 
mystery.' " 

"  It  is  indeed.  And  I  must  request  to  have  it  explained 
immediately." 

Thyatira's  blushes  and  the  sparkling  of  her  eyes  made 
her  look  quite  pretty,  and  almost  as  good  as  young  again, 
while  she  turned  away  with  a  final  shot  from  the  locker  of 
old  authority. 

"  You  ought  to  be  ashamed,  sir,  according  to  my  think- 
ing, to  be  standing  in  this  wind  so  long  without  no  hat 
upon  your  head." 

"  You  see,  sir,  it  is  just  like  this,"  the  gallant  sergeant 


AND   ONE    STILL   FINER  483 

followed  up,  when  his  love  was  out  of  hearing ;  "  time 
hath  come  for  Mrs.  Muggridge  to  be  married,  now  or 
never.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say,  as  a  man  who  fears  the 
Lord,  that  I  think  He  was  altogether  right  in  the  institoot- 
ing  of  wedlock,  supposing  as  ever  He  did  so.  But  whether 
He  did  it,  or  whether  He  did  not,  the  thing  hath  been  so 
taken  up  by  the  humankind — women  particular — that 
for  a  man  getting  on  in  years  'tis  the  only  thing  respect- 
able. Thyatira  hath  proven  that  out  of  the  Bible  many 
times." 

"  Mr.  Jakes,  the  proper  thing  is  to  search  the  Script- 
ures for  yourself." 

"  So  Thyatira  saith.  But  Lord !  she  findeth  me  wrong 
at  every  text,  from  looking  up  to  women  so.  If  she  hold- 
eth  by  St.  Paul  a  quarter  as  much  as  she  quoteth  him, 
there  won't  be  another  man  in  Perlycross  with  such  a 
home  as  I  shall  have." 

"  You  have  chosen  one  of  the  few  wise  virgins.  Jakes, 
I  trust  that  you  will  be  blessed  not  only  with  a  happy  home 
in  this  world,  but  what  is  a  thousand-fold  more  important, 
the  aid  of  a  truly  religious  wife  to  lead  a  thoroughly  hum- 
ble, prayerful,  and  consistent  Christian  life." 

"  Thank  'e,  sir  ;  thank  'e.  With  the  grace  of  God,  she 
will;  and  my  first  prayer  to  the  Lord  in  heaven  will  be 
just  this:  to  let  me  live  long  enough  for  to  see  that 
young  fool  of  a  Bob  the  butcher  a-hanging  from  his  own 
steelyard.  By  reason  of  the  idiot  he  hath  made  of  his- 
self  by  marrying  of  that  silly  minx,  Tamar  Haddon !" 

"The  grace  of  God  is  boundless,  and  Tamar  may  im- 
prove. Try  to  make  the  best  of  her,  Mr.  Jakes.  She  will 
always  look  up  to  you,  I  am  sure,  feeling  the  strength  of 
your  character  and  the  example  of  higher  principles." 

"  She !"  replied  the  sergeant  without  a  blush,  but  after 
a  keen  reconnoitring  glance.  "  The  likes  of  her  doesn't 
get  no  benefit  from  example.  But  I  must  not  keep  you, 
sir,  so  long  without  your  hat  on." 

"This  is  a  day  of  many  strange  events,"  Mr.  Penniloe 
began  to  meditate  as  he  leaned  back  in  his  long  sermon- 
chair,  with  the  shadows'  of  the  spring  night  deepening. 
"  Lady  Waldron  gone  to  support  her  brother's  case  in 
Spain,  because  she  had  so  wronged  him  ;  a  thousand 


484  PEKLYCKOSS 

pounds  suddenly  forthcoming  to  lift  us  out  of  our  afflic- 
tion ;  sweet  Nicie  left  in  the  charge  of  Mrs.  Webber,  who 
comes  to  live  at  Walderscourt ;  Christie  Fox  allowed  to 
have  her  own  way,  as  she  was  pretty  sure  to  do ;  and 
now  Thyatira,  Thyatira  Muggridge,  not  content  to  lead  a 
quiet,  useful,  respectable,  Christian,  and  well-paid  life,  but 
launched  into  matrimony  with  a  man  of  many  stripes !  I 
know  not  how  the  school  will  be  conducted,  or  my  own 
household,  if  it  comes  to  that.  Truly,  when  a  clergyman 
is  left  without  a  wife — " 

"  I  want  to  come  in,  and  the  door  won't  open " —  a 
clear  but  impatient  voice  was  heard  — "  I  want  to  see  you 
before  anybody  else  does."  And  then  another  shake  was 
given. 

"  Why,  Zip,  my  dear  child !  Zip,  don't  be  so  head- 
long. I  thought  you  were  learning  self-command.  W^hy, 
how  have  you  come  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this  ?" 

"  Well,  now  they  may  kill  me  if  they  like.  I  told  them 
I  would  hear  your  voice  again,  and  then  they  might  skin 
me  if  it  suited  them.  I  won't  have  their  religion.  There 
is  none  of  it  inside  them.  You  are  the  only  one  I  ever 
saw  that  God  has  made  with  his  eyes  open.  I  like  them 
very  well,  but  what  are  they  to  you  ?  Why,  they  won't 
let  me  speak  as  I  was  made  !  It  is  no  good  sending  me 
away  again.  Parson,  you  mustn't  stand  up  like  that. 
Can't  you  see  that  I  want  to  kiss  you  ?" 

"  My  dear  little  child,  with  all  my  heart.  But  I  never 
saw  any  one  half  so — ", 

"  Half  so  what  ?  I  don't  care  what,  so  long  as  I  have 
got  you  round  the  neck !"  cried  the  child  as  she  covered 
his  face  with  kisses,  drawing  back  every  now  and  then  to 
look  into  his  calm  blue  eyes  with  flashes  of  adoration. 
"  The  Lord  should  have  made  me  your  child,  instead  of 
that  well-conducted  waxy  thing  —  look  at  my  nails  !  She 
had  better  not  come  now." 

"Alas  !  Have  you  cultivated  nothing  but  your  nails  ? 
But  why  did  the  good  ladies  send  you  home  so  soon  ? 
They  said  they  would  keep  you  until  Whitsuntide." 

"  I  got  a  punishment  on  purpose,  and  I  let  the  old  girls 
go  to  dinner.  Then  I  said  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  slipped 
down  the  back  stairs." 


AND   ONE    STILL    FINER  485 

"  And  you  plodded  more  than  twenty  miles  alone  !  Oh, 
Zip,  what  a  difficult  thing  it  will  be  to  guide  you  into  the 
ways  of  peace !" 

"  They  say  I  talks  broad  a  bit  still  sometimes,  and  they 
gives  me  ever  so  much  roilying.  But  I'd  sit  up  all  night 
with  a  cork  in  my  mouth,  if  so  be  I  could  plaize  'e,  par- 
son." 

"  You  must  want  something  better  than  a  cork,  my 
dear  " — vexed  as  he  was,  Mr.  Penniloe  admired  the  vigor- 
ous growth  and  high  spirit  of  the  child  —  "  after  twenty- 
two  miles  of  our  up  and  down  roads.  Now  go  to  Mrs. 
Muggridge,  but  remember  one  thing :  if  you  are  unkind 
to  my  little  Fay,  how  can  you  expect  me  to  be  kind  to 
you !" 

"  Not  a  very  lofty  way  for  me  to  put  it,"  he  reflected, 
while  Zip  was  being  cared  for  in  the  kitchen ;  "  but  what 
am  I  to  do  with  that  strange  child?  If  the  girl  is  mother 
to  the  woman,  she  will  be  none  of  the  choir  Angelic,  con- 
tented with  duty  and  hymns  of  repose.  If  '  nature  mak- 
eth  nadders,'  as  our  good  people  say,  Zippy  hath  more 
of  sting  than  sugar  in  her  bowl."  * 

But  when  the  present  moment  thrives,  and  life  is  warm 
and  active,  and  those  in  whom  we  take  delight  are  pros- 
perous and  happy,  what  is  there  why  we  should  not  smile, 
and  keep  in  tune  with  all  around,  and  find  the  flavour  of 
the  world  returning  to  our  relish  ?  This  may  not  be  of 
the  noblest  style  of  thinking  or  of  living;  but  he  who 
would,  in  his  little  way,  rather  help  than  harm  his  fellows, 
soon  finds  out  that  it  cannot  be  done  by  carping  and  gird- 
ing at  them.  By  intimacy  with  their  lower  parts,  and 
rank  insistence  on  them,  one  may  for  himself  obtain  some 
power,  yielded  by  a  hateful  shame.  But  who  esteems 
him,  who  is  better  for  his  fetid  labours,  who  would  go  to 
him  for  comfort  when  the  world  is  waning,  who — though 
in  his  home  he  may  be  lovable — can  love  him  ? 

Mr.  Penniloe  was  not  of  those  who  mount  mankind 
by  lowering  it.  From  year  to  year  his  influence  grew,  as 
grows  a  tree  in  the  backwood  age,  that  neither  shuns  nor 
defies  the  storm.  Though  certain  persons  opposed  him 

*  This  proved  too  true,  as  may  be  shown  hereafter. 


486  PERLYCKOSS 

still — as  happens  to  every  active  man — there  was  not  one 
of  them  that  did  not  think  all  the  others  wrong  in  doing 
so.  For  instance,  Lady  Waldron,  when  she  returned  with 
her  son  from  Spain,  thought  Mrs.  Fox  by  no  means  reason- 
able, and  Mrs.  Fox  thought  Lady  Waldron  anything  but 
sensible,  when  either  of  them  differed  with  the  clergyman 
and  the  other.  For  verily  it  was  a  harder  thing  to  settle 
all  the  important  points  concerning  Nicie  and  Jemmy  Fox 
than  to  come  to  a  perfect  understanding  in  the  case  of 
Christie  and  Frank  Gilham. 

However,  the  parish  was  pleased  at  last  to  hear  that 
everything  had  been  arranged ;  and  a  mighty  day  it  was 
to  be  for  all  that  pleasant  neighbourhood,  although  no 
doubt  a  quiet,  and  as  every  one  hoped,  a  sober  one.  On 
account  of  her  father's  sad  condition,  Christie  as  well  as 
Nicie  was  to  make  her  vows  in  the  grand  old  church, 
which  was  not  wholly  finished  yet,  because  there  was  so 
much  more  to  do  through  the  fine  influx  of  money.  Cur- 
rency is  so  called,  perhaps,  not  only  because  it  runs  away 
so  fast,  but  also  because  it  runs  together,  the  prefix  being 
omitted  through  our  warm  affection  and  longing  for  the 
terms  of  familiarity.  At  any  rate,  the  parson  and  the  stout 
church-wardens  of  Perly  cross  had  just  received  another  hun- 
dred pounds  when  the  following  interview  came  to  pass. 

It  was  on  the  bank  of  the  crystal  Perle,  at  the  place 
where  the  Priestwell  brook  glides  in,  and  a  single  plank 
without  a  hand-rail  crosses  it  into  the  meads  below.  Here 
are  some  stickles  of  good  speed  and  right  complexion 
for  the  fly  to  float  quietly  into  a  dainty  mouth,  and  pro- 
duce a  fine  fry  in  the  evening ;  and  here,  if  any  man  re- 
joice not  in  the  gentle  art,  yet  may  he  find  sweet  comfort 
and  release  of  worldly  trouble  by  sitting  softly  on  the 
bank,  and  letting  all  the  birds  sing  to  him,  and  all  the 
flowers  fill  the  air,  and  all  the  little  waves  go  by,  as  his 
own  anxieties  have  gone. 

Sometimes  Mr.  Penniloe,  whenever  he  could  spare  the 
time,  allowed  his  heart  to  go  up  to  heaven,  where  his  soul 
was  waiting  for  it  and  wondering  at  its  little  cares.  And 
so,  on  this  fair  morning  of  the  May,  here  he  sat  upon  a 
bank  of  spring,  gazing  at  the  gliding  water  through  the 
mute  salaam  of  twigs. 


AND    ONE    STILL    FINER  487 

"  Reverend,  I  congratulate  you.  Never  heard  of  a  finer 
hit.  A  solid  hundred  out  of  Gowler !  Never  bet  with  a 
parson,  eh  ?  I  thought  he  knew  the  world  too  well." 

A  few  months  back  and  the  clergyman  would  have  risen 
very  stiffly,  and  kept  his  distance  from  this  joke.  But 
now  he  had  a  genuine  liking  for  this  "  Godless  Gronow," 
and  knew  that  his  mind  was  the  worst  part  of  him. 

"Doctor,  you  know  that  it  was  no  bet,"  he  said,  as  he 
shook  hands  heartily.  "  Nevertheless,  I  feel  some  doubts 
about  accepting — " 

"You  can't  help  it.  The  money  is  not  for  yourself, 
and  you  rob  the  church  if  you  refuse  it.  The  joke  of  it 
is  that  I  saw  through  the  mill-stone  where  that  conceited 
fellow  failed.  Come,  now,  as  you  are  a  sporting  man,  I'll 
bet  you  a  crown  that  I  catch  a  trout  in  this  little  stickle 
above  the  plank." 

"  Done !"  cried  Mr.  Penniloe,  forgetting  his  position, 
but  observing  Gronow's  as  he  whirled  his  flies. 

The  doctor  threshed  heartily  and  at  his  very  best,  even 
bending  his  back  as  he  had  seen  Pike  do,  and  screwing  up 
his  lips,  and  keeping  in  a  strict  line  with  his  line  his  body 
and  his  mind  and  whole  existence. 

Mr.  Penniloe's  face  wore  an  amiable  smile  as  he  watched 
the  intensity  of  his  friend.  Crowns  in  his  private  purse 
were  few  and  far  between,  and  if  he  should  attain  one  by 
the  present  venture  it  would  simply  go  into  the  poor-box  ; 
yet  such  was  his  sympathy  with  human  nature  that  he 
hoped  against  hope  to  see  a  little  trout  pulled  out.  But 
the  willows  bowed  sweetly,  and  the  wind  went  by,  and  the 
water  flowed  on  with  all  its  clever  children  safe. 

"  Here  you  are,  reverend  !"  said  the  philosophic  Gronow, 
pulling  out  his  cart-wheel  like  a  man;  "you  can't  make 
them  take  you  when  they  don't  choose,  can  you  ?  But  I'll 
make  them  pay  out  for  it  when  they  begin  to  rise." 

"The  fact  of  it  is  that  you  are  too  skilful,  doctor;  and 
you  let  them  see  so  much  of  you  that  they  feel  it  in  their 
hearts." 

"  There  may  be  truth  in  that.  But  my  own  idea  is 
that  I  manage  to  instil  into  my  flies  too  keen  a  sense  of 
their  own  dependence  upon  me.  Now,  what  am  I  to  do  ? 
I  must  have  a  dish — and  a  good  dish,  too — of  trout  for  this 


488  PERLYCEOSS 

evening's  supper.  You  know  the  honour  and  the  pleasure 
I  am  to  have  of  giving  the  last  bachelor  and  maiden  feast 
to  the  heroes  and  heroines  of  to-morrow — Nicie  and  Jemmy 
Fox,  Christie  and  Frank  Gilham.  Their  people  are  glad 
to  be  quit  of  them  in  the  fuss,  and  they  are  too  glad  to  be 
out  of  it.  None  of  your  imported  stuff  for  me.  Nothing 
is  to  be  allowed  upon  the  table  unless  it  is  the  produce  of 
our  own  parish.  A  fine  fore  -  quarter,  and  a  ripe  sirloin, 
my  own  asparagus  and  lettuce  and  sea -kail  and  frame- 
potatoes  in  their  jackets.  Stewed  pears  and  clotted  cream, 
grapes,  and  a  pineapple  (coming,  of  course,  from  Wal- 
derscourt) — oh,  reverend,  what  a  good  man  you  would  be 
if  you  only  knew  what  is  good  to  eat !" 

"But  I  do.  And  I  shall  know  still  better  by-and-by. 
I  understood  that  I  was  kindly  invited." 

"  To  be  sure,  and  one  of  the  most  important.  But  I 
must  look  sharp,  or  I  shall  never  get  the  fish.  By-the-bye, 
you  couldn't  take  the  rod  for  half  an  hour,  could  you  ? 
I  hear  that  you  have  been  a  fine  hand  at  it." 

Mr.  Penniloe  stood  with  his  hand  upon  a  burr-knot  of 
oak,  and  looked  at  the  fishing-rod.  If  it  had  been  a  good, 
homely,  hard-working,  and  plain-living  bit  of  stuff,  such 
as  St.  Peter  might  have  swung  upon  the  banks  of  Jor- 
dan, haply  the  parson  might  have  yielded  to  the  sweet 
temptation.  For  here  within  a  few  clicks  of  reel  was  good- 
ly choice  of  many  waters,  various  as  the  weather — placid 
glides  of  middle  currents  rippling  off  towards  either  bank, 
petulant  swerves  from  bank  or  bole,  with  a  plashing  and 
a  murmur  and  a  gurgling  from  below,  and  then  a  spread 
of  quiet  dimples  deepening  to  a  limpid  pool.  Taking  all 
the  twists  and  turns  of  river  Perle  and  Priestwell  brook, 
there  must  have  been  a  mile  of  water  in  two  flowery  mead- 
ows, water  bright  with  stickle-runs,  gloomy  with  still  cor- 
ners, or  quivering  with  crafty  hovers  where  a  king  of  fish 
might  dwell. 

But  lo,  the  king  of  fishermen,  or  at  least  the  young 
prince,  was  coming !  The  doctor  caught  the  parson's 
sleeve,  and  his  face  assumed  its  worst  expression,  perhaps 
its  usual  one  before  he  took  to  church-going  and  fly-fish- 
ing. 

'*  Just  look !     Over  there,  by  that  wild-cherry  tree !" 


AND   ONE   STILL   FINER  489 

he  whispered  very  fiercely.  "  I  am  sure  it's  that  sneak 
of  a  Pike  once  more.  Come  into  this  bush,  and  watch 
him.  I  thought  he  was  gone  to  Oxford.  Why,  I  never 
saw  him  fishing  once  last  week." 

"  Pike  is  no  sneak,  but  a  very  honest  fellow,"  his  tutor 
answered,  warmly.  "  But  I  was  obliged  by  a  sad  offence 
of  his  to  stop  him  from  handling  the  rod  last  week.  He 
begged  me  to  lay  it  on  his  back  instead.  The  poor  boy 
scarcely  took  a  bit  of  food.  He  will  never  forget  that 
punishment." 

"  Well,  he  seems  to  be  making  up  for  it  now.  What 
luck  he  has,  and  I  get  none  !" 

Mr.  Penniloe  smiled  as  his  favourite  pupil  crossed  the 
Perle  towards  them.  He  was  not  wading — in  such  small 
waters  there  is  no  necessity  for  that — but  stepping  lightly 
from  pile  to  pile,  and  slab  to  slab,  where  the  relics  of  an 
ancient  weir  stood  above  the  flashing  river.  Whistling 
softly,  and  calmly  watching  every  curl  and  ripple,  he  was 
throwing  a  long  line  up  the  stream,  while  his  flies  were 
flitting  as  if  human  genius  had  turned  them  in  their  post- 
humous condition  into  moths.  His  rod  showed  not  a 
glance  of  light,  but  from  spike  to  top-ring  quivered  with 
the  vigilance  of  death. 

While  the  envious  Gronow  watched,  with  bated  breath 
and  teeth  set  hard,  two  or  three  merry  little  trout  were 
taught  what  they  were  made  for;  then  in  a  soft  swirl 
near  the  bank  that  dimpled  like  a  maiden's  cheek,  an  ex- 
cellent fish  with  a  yellow  belly  bravely  made  room  in  it 
for  something  choice.  Before  he  had  smacked  his  lips 
thoroughly,  behold  another  fly  of  wondrous  beauty — laced 
with  silver,  azure-pinioned,  and  with  an  exquisite  curl  of 
tail — came  fluttering  through  the  golden  world  so  marvel- 
lous to  the  race  below.  The  poor  fly  shuddered  at  the 
giddy  gulf,  then  folded  his  wings  and  fell  helpless.  "  I 
have  thee,"  exclaimed  the  trout — but  ah !  more  truly  the 
same  thing  said  the  Pike.  A  gallant  struggle,  a  thrilling 
minute,  silvery  dashes,  and  golden  rolls,  and  there  be- 
tween Dr.  Gronow's  feet  lay  upon  Dr.  Gronow's  land  a 
visitor  he  would  have  given  half  the  meadow  to  have 
placed  there. 

"Don't  touch  him,"  said  Pike,  in  the  calmest  manner, 

21* 


490  PEELYCROSS 

"  or  you'll  be  sure  to  let  him  in  again.  He  will  turn  the 
pound  handsomely,  don't  you  think  ?" 

"  A  cool  hand,  truly,  this  pupil  of  yours !"  quoth  the 
doctor  to  the  parson.  "To  consult  me  about  the  weight 
of  my  own  fish,  and  then  put  him  in  his  basket !  Young 
man,  this  meadow  belongs  to  me." 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  dare  say ;  but  the  fish  don't  live  altogether 
in  the  meadow.  And  I  never  heard  that  you  preserve  the 
Perle.  Priest  well  brook  you  do,  I  know.  But  I  don't 
want  to  go  there,  if  I  might." 

"  I  dare  say.  Perhaps  the  grapes  are  sour.  Never 
mind ;  let  us  see  how  you  have  done.  I  find  them  taking 
rather  short  to-day.  Why,  you  don't  mean  to  say  you 
have  caught  all  those  !" 

"  I  ought  to  have  done  better,"  said  the  modest  Pike, 
"  but  I  lost  two  very  nice  fish  by  being  in  too  much  of  a 
hurry.  That  comes  of  being  stopped  from  it  all  last  week. 
But  I  see  you  have  not  been  lucky  yet.  You  are  welcome 
to  these,  sir,  if  Mr.  Penniloe  does  not  want  them.  By 
strict  right,  I  dare  say  they  belong  to  you." 

"  Not  one  of  them,  Mr.  Pike.  But  you  are  very  gener- 
ous. I  hope  to  catch  a  basketful  very  shortly — still,  it  is 
just  possible  that  this  may  not  occur.  I  will  take  them 
provisionally,  and  with  many  thanks.  Now,  will  you  add 
to  the  obligation  by  telling,  if  your  tutor  has  no  objection, 
why  he  put  you  under  such  an  awful  veto  ?" 

"  My  boy,  you  are  welcome  to  tell  Dr.  Gronow.  It  was 
only  a  bit  of  thoughtlessness,  and  your  punishment  has 
been  severe." 

"  I  shall  never  touch  cobbler's  wax  again  on  Sunday. 
But  I  wanted  to  finish  a  May-fly  entirely  of  my  own  pat- 
tern ;  and  so  after  church  I  was  touching  up  his  wings 
when  in  comes  Mr.  Penniloe  with  his  London  glasses  on." 

"And  I  am  proud  to  assure  you,  Dr.  Gronow,  that  the 
lad  never  tried  to  deceive  me.  I  should  have  been  deeply 
pained  if  he  had  striven  to  conceal  it." 

"  Well  done  !  That  speaks  well  for  both  of  you.  Pike, 
you  are  a  straightforward  fellow.  You  shall  have  a  day 
on  my  brook  once  a  week.  Is  there  anything  more  I  can 
do  for  you  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  unless  it  is  too  much  to  ask ;  and  perhaps 


AND    ONE    STILL    FINER  491 

Mr.  Penniloe  would  like  to  hear  it,  too.  Hopper  and  I 
have  had  many  talks  about  it ;  and  he  says  that  I  am  su- 
perstitious. But  his  plan  of  things  is  to  cut  for  his  life 
over  everything  that  he  can  see,  without  stopping  once  to 
look  at  it.  And  when  he  has  jumped  over  it,  he  has  no 
more  idea  what  it  was  than  if  he  had  run  under  it.  He 
has  no  faith  in  anything  that  he  does  not  see,  and  he  nev- 
er sees  much  of  anything." 

"  Ha,  Master  Pike.  You  describe  it  well,"  said  the  doc- 
tor, looking  at  him  with  much  interest.  "  Scepticism  with- 
out inquiry.  Reverend,  that  Hop-jumper  is  not  the  right 
stuff  for  a  bishop." 

"  If  you  please,  Dr.  Gronow,  we  will  not  discuss  that 
now,"  the  parson  replied,  with  a  glance  at  young  Pike, 
which  the  doctor  understood  and  heeded.  "  What  is  it, 
my  boy,  that  you  would  ask  of  Dr.  Gronow,  after  serious 
debate  with  Peckover?" 

"  Nothing,  sir,  nothing.  Only  we  would  like  to  know, 
if  it  is  not  disagreeable  to  any  one,  how  he  could  have 
managed  from  the  very  first  to  understand  all  about  Sir 
Thomas  Waldron,  and  to  know  that  we  were  all  mak- 
ing fools  of  ourselves.  I  say  that  he  must  have  seen  a 
dream,  like  Jacob,  or  have  been  cast  into  a  vision,  like  so 
many  other  saints.  But  Hopper  says  no;  if  there  was 
any  inspiration,  Dr.  Gronow  was  more  likely  to  have  got 
it  from  the  devil." 

"  Come  now,  Pike,  and  Hopper,  too — if  he  were  here 
to  fly  my  brook — I  call  that  very  unfair  of  you.  No,  it 
was  not  you  who  said  it ;  I  can  quite  believe  that.  No 
fisherman  reviles  his  brother.  But  you  should  have  given 
him  the  spike,  my  friend.  Reverend,  is  this  all  the  the- 
ology you  teach  ?  Well,  there  is  one  answer  as  to  how  I 
knew  it,  and  a  very  short  one — the  little  word  brains" 

Mr.  Penniloe  smiled  a  pleasant  smile,  and  simply  said, 
"  Ah  !"  in  his  accustomed  tone,  which  everybody  liked  for 
its  sympathy  and  good  faith.     But  Pike  took  up  his  rod, 
and  waved  his  flies  about,  and  answered  very  gravely : 
"  It  must  be  something  more  than  that." 

"  No,  sir,"  said  the  doctor,  looking  down  at  him  com- 
placently, and  giving  a  little  tap  to  his  grizzled  forehead ; 
"  it  was  all  done  here,  sir — just  a  trifling  bit  of  brains." 


492  PERLYCROSS 

"But  there  never  can  have  been  such  brains  before," 
replied  Pike,  with  an  angler's  persistence.  "Why,,  every- 
body else  was  a  thousand  miles  astray,  and  yet  Dr.  Gro- 
now  hit  the  mark  at  once  !" 

"  It  is  a  little  humble  knack  he  has,  sir.  Just  a  little 
gift  of  thinking,"  the  owner  of  all  this  wisdom  spoke  as 
if  he  were  half-ashamed  of  it ;  "  from  his  earliest  days  it 
has  been  so.  Nothing  whatever  to  be  proud  of,  and 
sometimes  even  a  trouble  to  him,  when  others  require  to 
be  set  right.  But  how  can  one  help  it,  Master  Pike  ? 
There  is  the  power,  and  it  must  be  used.  Mr.  Penniloe 
will  tell  you  that." 

"  All  knowledge  is  from  above,"  replied  the  gentleman 
thus  appealed  to,  "and  beyond  all  question  it  is  the  duty 
of  those  who  have  this  precious  gift  to  employ  it  for  the 
good  of  others." 

"  Young  man,  there  is  a  moral  lesson  for  you.  When 
wiser  people  set  you  right,  be  thankful  and  be  humble. 
That  has  been  my  practice  always,  though  I  have  not 
found  many  occasions  for  it." 

Pike  was  evidently  much  impressed,  and  looked  with 
reverence  at  both  his  elders.  "  Perhaps,  then,"  he  said, 
with  a  little  hesitation  and  the  bright  blush  of  ingenuous 
youth,  "  I  ought  to  set  Dr.  Gronow  right  in  a  little  mis- 
take he  is  making." 

"  If  such  a  thing  be  possible,  of  course  you  should," 
his  tutor  replied,  with  a  smile  of  surprise,  while  the  doctor 
recovered  his  breath,  made  a  bow,  and  said,  lt  Sir,  will  you 
point  out  my  error  ?" 

"  Here  it  is,  sir,"  quoth  Pike,  with  the  certainty  of  truth 
overcoming  his  young  diffidence,  "  this  wire-apparatus  in 
your  brook  —  a  very  clever  thing;  what  is  the  object  of 
it?" 

"  My  Ichthyophylax  ?  A  noble  idea  that  has  puzzled  all 
the  parish.  A  sort  of  a  grill  that  only  works  one  way.  It 
keeps  all  my  fish  from  going  down  to  my  neighbours,  and 
yet  allows  theirs  to  come  up  to  me ;  and  when  they  come 
up,  they  can  never  get  back.  At  the  other  end  of  my 
property  I  have  the  same  contrivance  inverted,  so  that  all 
the  fish  come  down  to  me,  but  none  of  them  can  go  up 
again.  I  saw  the  thing  offered  in  a  sporting  paper,  and 


AND    ONE    STILL    FINER  493 

paid  a  lot  of  money  for  it  in  London.     Reverend,  isn't  it 
a  grand  invention  ?     It  intercepts  them  all,  like  a  sluice- 


"  Extremely  ingenious,  no  doubt,"  replied  the  parson ; 
"  but  is  not  it  what  a  fair-minded  person  would  consider 
rather  selfish?" 

"  Not  at  all.  They  would  like  to  have  my  fish,  if  they 
could,  and  so  I  anticipate  them  and  get  theirs.  Quite  the 
rule  of  the  Scriptures,  reverend." 

"  I  think  that  I  have  read  a  text,"  said  Master  Pike, 
stroking  his  long  chin,  and  not  quite  sure  that  he  quoted 
aright ;  "  the  snare  which  he  laid  for  others,  in  the  same 
are  his  own  feet  taken  !" 

"  A  very  fine  text,"  replied  Dr.  Gronow,  with  one  of  his 
most  sarcastic  smiles ;  "  and  the  special  favourite  of  the 
Lord  must  have  realized  it  too  often.  But  what  has  that 
to  do  with  my  Ichthyophylax  ?" 

"  Nothing,  sir,  only  that  you  have  set  it  so  that  it  works 
in  the  wrong  direction.  All  the  fish  go  out,  but  they  can't 
come  back.  And  if  it  is  so  at  the  upper  end,  no  wonder 
that  you  catch  nothing." 

"  Can  I  ever  call  any  man  a  fool  again  ?"  cried  the  doc- 
tor, when  thoroughly  convinced. 

"  Perhaps  that  disability  will  be  no  loss,"  Mr.  Penniloe 
answered,  quietly. 


THE    END 


R.  D.  BLACKMORE'S  NOVELS. 


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WILLIAM  BLACK'S  NOVELS. 


LIBRARY   EDITION. 


A  DAUGHTER  OF  HETH. 

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STORIES.     Illustrated. 
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YOLANDE.     Illustrated. 


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BEN-HUR:  A  TALE  OF  THE  CHRIST. 


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Anything  so  startling,  new,  and  distinctive  as  the  leading  feature  of 
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Wallace's  writing  is  remarkable  for  its  pathetic  eloquence.  The  scenes 
described  in  the  New  Testament  are  rewritten  with  the  power  and  skill  of 
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Its  real  basis  is  a  description  of  the  life  of  the  Jews  and  Romans  at  the 
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families  of  Israel.  There  is  plenty  of  exciting  incident;  everything  is  anL 
mated,  vivid  and  glowing. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

From  the  opening  of  the  volume  to  the  very  close  the  reader's  interest 
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and  will  help  those  who  read  it  with  reasonable  attention  to  realize  the 
nature  and  conditions  of  Hebrew  life  in  Jerusalem  and  Roman  life  at 
Antioch  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  advent. — Examiner,  N.  Y. 

The  book  is  one  of  unquestionable  power,  and  will  be  read  with  un- 
wonted interest  by  many  readers  who  are  weary  of  the  conventional  novel 
and  romance. — Boston  Journal. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  and  delightful  books.  It  is  as  real  and 
warm  as  life  itself,  and  as  attractive  as  the  grandest  and  most  heroic 
chapters  of  history. — Indianapolis  Journal. 


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THE  PRINCE  OF  INDIA; 

Or,  Why  Constantinople  Fell.  By  LEW.  WALLACE,  Author  of 
"  Ben-Hur,"  "  The  Boyhood  of  Christ,"  etc.  Two  Vol- 
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General  Wallace  has  achieved  the  (literary)  impossible.  He  has  struck 
the  bull's-eye  twice  in  succession.  After  bis  phenomenal  hit  with  "  Ben- 
Hur  "  he  has  given  us,  in  "  The  Prince  of  India,"  another  book  which  no  man 
will  say  shows  the  least  falling  off.  ...  It  is  a  great  book. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

A  great  story  It  has  power  and  lire.  We  believe  that  it  will  be  read 
and  re-read. — N.  Y.  Sun. 

For  boldness  of  conception  this  romance  is  unique  of  its  kind.  The 
amount  of  research  shown  is  immense.  The  mere  mise  en  scene  necessary 
for  the  proper  presentation  of  the  Byzantine  period  alone  involves  a  life- 
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are  worked  up  with  dramatic  effect. — N".  Y.  Times. 

Its  human  interest  is  so  vivid  that  it  is  one  of  those  historical  novels  laid 
down  reluctantly  only  with  the  last  page  with  the  feeling  that  one  turns 
away  from  men  and  women  with  whom  for  a  while  he  lived  and  moved.  .  .  . 
A  masterly  and  great  and  absorbing  work  of  fiction.  .  .  .  Dignity,  a  superb 
conjunction  of  historical  and  imaginative  material,  the  movement  of  a 
strong  river  of  fancy,  an  unfailing  quality  of  human  interest,  fill  it  over- 
flowingly. — N".  Y.  Mail  and  Express. 

Politics,  romance,  religious  discussion,  war,  statesmanship,  and  love,  all 
have  their  part  as  elements  of  interest,  and  one  may  be  sure  that  not  Bul- 
wer  himself  could  have  treated  a  notable  epoch  in  history  with  greater  fidel- 
ity to  established  fact  or  more  splendor  of  constructive  imagination. — Bos- 
ton Beacon. 

In  invention,  in  the  power  to  make  mind-impressions,  in  thrilling  inter- 
est, "  The  Prince  of  India  "  is  not  inferior  to  "  Ben-Hur."  The  visit  to  the 
grave  of  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  with  which  the  story  opens,  at  once  arouses 
the  reader's  keenest  interest,  which  culminates  in  the  closing  pages  of  the 
second  volume  with  the  downfall  of  Constantinople. — Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

Abounds  in  scenes  that  have  few  rivals  outside  of  the  "Arabian  Nights." 
— N.  Y.  Herald. 

"  The  Prince  of  India  "  is  a  succession  of  Oriental  pictures,  faithful  and 
ample  in  detail.  It  is  beyond  question  an  able  historical  novel,  an  absorb- 
ing theological  novel,  a  refined  and  lofty  liaye  story.  ...  Its  qualities  are 
thought -arousing,  educating,  pictorial,  spiritually  analytic. —  St.  Louis 
Globe-Democrat. 


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rival. — Boston  Courier. 

It  takes  just  such  distinguished  literary  art  as  Mary  E.  Wilkins  possesses 
to  give  an  episode  of  New  England  its  soul,  pathos,  and  poetry. — N.  Y. 
Times. 

The  simplicity,  purity,  and  quaintness  of  these  stories  set  them  apart  in 
a  niche  of  distinction  where  they  have  no  rivals. — Literary  World,  Boston. 

The  author  has  the  unusual  gift  of  writing  a  short  story  which  is  com- 
plete  in  itself,  having  a  real  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end. —  Observer, 
N.  Y. 

A  gallery  of  striking  studies  in  the  humblest  quarters  of  American 
country  life.  No  one  has  dealt  with  this  kind  of  life  better  than  Miss 
Wilkins.  Nowhere  are  there  to  be  found  such  faithful,  delicately  drawn, 
sympathetic,  tenderly  humorous  pictures. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

The  charm  of  Miss  Wilkins's  stories  is  in  her  intimate  acquaintance  and 
comprehension  of  humble  life,  and  the  sweet  human  interest  she  feels  and 
makes  her  readers  partake  of,  in  the  simple,  common,  homely  people  she 
draws. — Springfield  Republican. 

The  author  has  given  us  studies  from  real  life  which  must  be  the  result 
of  a  lifetime  of  patient,  sympathetic  observation.  .  .  .  No  one  has  done 
the  same  kind  of  work  so  lovingly  and  so  well. — Christian  Register, 
Boston. 


PUBLISHED  BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK. 

f  The  above  works  are  for  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage  pre 
paid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  or  Mexico,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


TH,S  BOOK 


ON  THE  FOURTH 

DAY 


MAY  8 


414578 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


